Rapacious
by Cata-nee
Summary: To be rapacious means to look past everything in your wake, and to grasp only that desired motive. Could you honestly push aside all that has made you what you are today? When will you open your eyes and see the reality woven right before you? Greed x OC.
1. Welcome to the Underworld

_**Summary**: To be rapacious means to look past everything in your wake, and to grasp only that desired motive. Could you honestly push aside all that has made you what you are today? When will you open your eyes and see the reality woven right before you? Greed x OC. Possibly some OC x Ling friendship thing going on. I'm not aiming for mush, I'm aiming to provide an alternative for your extra time for you to read and review this. Thank you._

**A/N: **Based off of FMA: Brotherhood.

And just so people who are thinking this story has to do with vampires and werewolves or demons and angels, **underworld also means the criminal element of human society.**

**NO **I'm not assuming you are stupid. But if you are assuming that I was assuming that you were stupid then I guess you are stupid.

**Read and review and I'll return the favor if you wish it~ **Although animes I am only interested in are FMA, Hetalia, and DRRR! I am also aware of Vampire Knight, but considering VK I will only read it if...well, you're pretty dedicated. Because I'm not really into it at all.**  
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**Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, I wouldn't change anything, because EVERYTHING IS FINE JUST THE WAY IT IS. :D Honestly, with the exception of Greedling, if any other homunculus survived Amestris would probably be fucked right now.

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><p><em><strong>Rapacious<strong>_

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_| To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are. |_

**Chapter 1**

Welcome to the Underworld

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"Military activity around Dublith is getting pretty heavy this week around. You sure you're not purposely gathering attention to yourselves?"

"'Course not, sweetheart. Why in the world would I try to make your job harder than it already is?" The rugged looking older man flashed her with a very sly-looking grin, leaning comfortably against the edge of her wooden desk.

"Was that sarcasm?" The girl asked him, raising a thin eyebrow as she pulled away a stack of papers that Greed was crumpling under his sheer weight.

The older male craned his neck towards her, sounding mischievous, "You know me kitten, and that I don't ever tell a lie."

The papers in her hand shifted loudly enough for him to sense her irritation from his nickname for her. It was a pun off of her real name. She even balled her fist towards her mouth and coughed for emphasis, but Greed just outright ignored her not-so-subtle gestures.

"I guess that means I can hold you to your word, then… " She smirked, leaning her head against her hand with her elbows propped on the table, "…Here I have written the routes for this week's daily patrols."

The male homunculus snatched the papers from the desk, pulling it towards his face and examining it with keen interest. She watched him interpret it for a few moments, until his thin smirk grew into a satisfied grin. Greed folded the papers in half, stuffing it into his pant pocket before turning away from the dimly lit room, "Thanks kitten."

"It's Catalena, Avaricious. And where's my payment, " she growled, pushing herself from the desk and standing up. There was a single lamp lit in that office room, and in the dim fluorescent light an intricate alchemical design could be distinguished from the brown gloves she wore.

Greed stopped for a moment, instantly receiving the serious and violent vibe she was radiating. To her chagrin, he only flashed a smile, "Put it on my tab, kitten."

"I _don't _accept tabs, Greed. Money in advance, and that's that."

"You shoulda thought of that before you handed me what I came here for." He threw a friendly wave over his shoulder, trudging towards the exit of the small office.

Gritting her teeth, the girl hastily drew a transmutation circle on the surface of her desk with a lead pencil. Once she was done, her gloved hands were pressed against it. A crackle of blue energy ensued from the outline of the drawing, and Catalena transmuted a wooden spear at the homunculus.

The sharp end of the wooden pike soared through the air at Greed, but as expected, once it tried to pierce the area in between his shoulder blades, the tip of her weapon chipped right off, useless.

It was as if the man in front of her had an impenetrable shield covering his body.

Greed only turned his torso over, rubbing the area where Catalena aimed the shard and staring unimpressed at the remains of it shattered along her wood floor, "…Ouch. Now was that really necessary, kitten? I told you I would get your money to you later."

"You'll get my money to me now, homunculus. Or else _someone _is going to discretely mention your presence in Dublith here to the State Military." She threatened, expression hardening into a glare.

Greed actually took a moment to reconsider everything. "Are you really going to do that to me? After all the business we've done together?"

"I can give more reliable clients the information they need. Information brokers aren't subject to only a single homunculus." Catalena retorted, resting a hand on her hip. "It's been real, but business is business. Nothing personal."

The dark-haired man sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Reluctantly, he returned back to her desk, stepping over the remnants of the wooden spear. He pulled a bag out of his pants pocket before slowly dropping the contents of it on her desk. Catalena took the pile of cens into her hands, counting the amount and then pocketing it within her own pants.

Greed could instantly recognize the sinisterly satisfied smirk on her face.

"Pretty pinchy with your pennies, aren't you, Catalena?" He muttered, frowning as he shoved his hands into both pockets.

"Maybe. But then again, aren't you? After all, Mr. Greed was the one who didn't want to pay up front again…" She slumped back into her revolving chair, spinning around in it triumphantly.

He discretely shuffled his feet towards the exit, shooting the girl spinning around in her office chair a blank look. Once it was clear she was finished with him, he threw one more comment before he would leave that room for another week or so, "…You know, kitten. If word ever gets out to anybody that I'm here…I'll make sure you come crashing down with me."

The chair suddenly stopped spinning. The back of it was the only thing visible to Greed's wine-colored eyes.

"…We both know that it's against the rules to dig into the classified contents of the State Military if you aren't part of it yourself."

"…"

"You're nothing but a lowly citizen of Amestris, stationing herself and her 'information database of the Amestrian underworld' within the bad side of Dublith." Greed finished as he mentioned her inferiority to adults. "You're playing with fire, kitten, and you're not the type who wants to get burned."

"…Oh, just get out, you grinning creep." Catalena sighed, the back of her chair still the only thing in sight.

He smirked victoriously before bidding his farewell, "If you say so. Later."

Greed's parting words reached her as he slipped out of the low-class apartment room. She heard her door close as he was leaving, and after waiting a few moments to signify his absence she stood from her chair.

The girl bent over to pick up the broken pieces of her alchemy. Quietly she gathered the wooden fragments and then threw them into the disposable bin beside her desk. Standing up, she took a good look at her disorganized office room of spilt papers, pens, filing cabinets that's contents were boiling over, and begun to realize that her choice of career truthfully wasn't that commendable.

Information broker…Amestrian underworld…trying to hide a homunculus from the eyes of the state…not the life her mom or dad would have been proud of now when she kicked herself out of their house. They wanted her to find a handsome looking boy and then live life and prosper.

Muttering colorful words, she pressed her hand against the transmutation circle from before, fixing the dents of her work desk. Once it was flat like before, she began rubbing the fabric of her sleeves against the pencil drawing on the desk. The black outline of the transmutation circle disappeared from its surface and a content look ushered on her face.

Yeah, her current life wasn't so simple.

But it sure was exciting as hell. So it wasn't so bad now.

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><p><strong>AN: **Let's keep the prologue short and ready to aspire for more, shall we? Please review and leave your opinions. But despite the amount, I will update because I'm a narcissist, as well as a perfectionist. I will embrace your criticism with open arms and am open to improvement.

Catalena is a Romanian name to newcomers, by the way. So don't get on me because it sounds, what do you say, Mary-sue. If this is an issue - if you AREN'T satisfied with the name, shall I name her Saphira Obliva Leila Renegee? eu e

OH GOD THAT SOUNDS SO HORRIBLE EVEN TYPING IT

And that was a joke, by the way.

To old readers, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep Catalena's previous personality. All I know is I have to remain consistent. We'll see as I type along.

Please review~


	2. Eviction

**_And from now on to save space, I will reply to reviews if they have a question in them._**

**WhiteCrow10: **LOL. YES. Now that you mention it, it DOES remind me of Izaya! I wonder if they're going to make a second season, since the petition thing is over 10,000 signatures already...

**Twilight Traveler: **Fixed it, I think~ I'm not a wood expert so let's just settle for wood. Thank you for reviewing~

**KuramaMustangElric: **I do love Ling and all, but...I think it would create conflict to have them both a pairing and such. I think I'll create a brotherly/sisterly relationship though. Hm, maybe I'll make another story just for Ling, since he's awesome like that. :D AND HE'S THE CUTEST THING EVER.

**Cursed Bunny: **I'm a stupid perfectionist! /shot**. **I did it, though~ And I'm adding this new male OC to reveal her family side I guess I could say. Thank you for reviewing~ And fixed it. My bad. Oh and shoot me for saying that too. D:**  
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**A/N: **_(YOU GUIZE. GREED DIED LAST WEEK. OH MY GOD I WAS SO SAD…watching it again) Thank you for all reviews~ God I feel so sad, the FMA: Brotherhood anime ended yesterday. I think I cried. I mean, I watched it already, but...it's still sad it's all over. GOD I HATE IT WHEN GOOD ANIMES END. JUST AHJAHSKSA /foams at mouth_

_Enjoy the story. I hope it was worth the wait!_

_I re-watched episode 13 and 14 and I just love the original Greed again. He's visibly funnier and more compassionate than the second Greed, even though they're the same person...well, he's probably more pleasant to be around. Greedling is more of the darker type instead of playful like the first Greed._

_FFFF- ALL THESE GREEDS /throws table  
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**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, Mustang wouldn't have grown a mustache. Or, he would have shaved it off before someone took his picture that faithful credit/slide.

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><p><strong><em>Rapacious<em>**

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_|I preyed upon the weak, the harmless, the unsuspecting.|_

**Chapter 2**

Eviction

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"Evicted? You're getting evicted? You mean like 'kicked out'?" The spiky-haired homunculus questioned as he sat comfortably in his seat. He was leaning against the table as he was sitting backwards in his seat, giving the female a peculiar look.

With the tall and narrow glass tipped to her lips, she muttered indifferently to her host, "Mhm. It was a client of mine; he's developing into his rebellious phase."

Greed grinned, rows of shark-like teeth exposed, "Ooh, so you have clients? I like the sound of that." To Catalena's chagrin, he even leered at her, beginning to invade that personal bubble.

As soon as she tasted the bitter alcohol, her lips pursed and she dismissed the drink Greed purchased. "You have vulgar taste…"

"So I've been told~" Greed hummed, facing front wards again to observe his 'possessions' mingle within the large pub called Devil's Nest. Catalena would have inquired about the origins of the name, but she would probably forget, as it wouldn't benefit her later on.

Her gray eyes represented stink eye, "I meant the drink."

"Oh, I know what you meant." Purplish eyes peered out at her, and a crooked chuckle seethed through his grinning teeth. "_You're _the one who's assuming I'm thinking about that sort of stuff."

Sparing him a few more moments of stink eye, her irises soon rolled, finding interest in the wall beside her, "…Ignoring that…I'm going to have to consider your offer."

"Whoa, seriously?" The feeling of excitement lit in his toned face. "You wouldn't mind staying at a pub full of human chimeras?"

"The apartment wasn't much better—especially since the military is going to be keeping an eye on it. So, yeah, but again, it's just business. Nothing personal."

Greed's grin shifted into a disappointed frown, "Well, that's no fun. I prefer my business relationships to have a little spice in them, y'know?"

She watched the ice in her unwanted drink clink against each other as they floated. "…You're a pretty vulgar guy, too…"

"Huh?"

Catalena's flat expression twisted into a smirk, and she craned her neck at Greed to show this, "I said if you're lucky, maybe this business relationship _could _get personal. But I'm not too sure about what Cain would think if he saw I was getting touchy with my clients."

Greed's carefree and temporarily benevolent smile suddenly turned flat.

"Who's 'Cain' ?"

**Earlier that day (Afternoon)**

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"Sergeant Major Cain Ashford?"

The neat-haired young man turned to the source of the voice, realizing it to be his commanding officer, "Captain." Cain ushered a quick salute, which was promptly returned.

"At ease. I've got a job for you, son." From his blue military regalia, the senior officer revealed a pamphlet towards the black-haired young man. Once it was in his own hands, glancing at it, he was stupefied.

"What is it?" He flipped through a few pages of the pamphlet, finding it to be nothing more but an atlas-sort of book with the addresses of residents living in Dublith labeled.

"We received a case about a sleazy old man who's supposedly being forced to pay rent for a young woman. He claims she's blackmailing him." As Cain began flipping through the pages much more slowly, the older man added, "If you continue a few more pages, I have the address underlined."

Pretty soon he found it, and Cain couldn't help but notice it seemed vaguely familiar. "…I see it, Sir. So you want me to keep a close eye on this apartment building and interrogate any local residents?"

"That would be the smart thing to do. Once you're sure you've found the culprit, report back to me and I'll have a squad ready for your orders."

Cain closed the booklet, shoving it into his State Military uniform. He gave another salute to his officer, "I'll have this case resolved soon, Sir."

"Good. I'm sure you're very capable of the task. Try not to shoot anyone out of instinct. I don't want to be held responsible for another civilian's injuries." He spun around, heading in the direction in which he came.

"T-That was one time, Sir!" Cain's response was sort of a childish whine, and to add to that effect he even stuttered.

His superior officer didn't attempt arguing with his subordinate, instead disappearing as he turned a corner. Cain himself smiled subtlety as he returned to his original track: home.

He would work on the case the following morning.

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Besides the rest of the messy confines of the apartment, there was a single lamp lit in a cramped room. That room was filled with papers, filing cabinets, and then a woman throwing pens into a trash bin as if she were bored or something similar.

The ballpoint, plastic pens hopped into and against the frame of the disposable bin, most of them scattered along the floor. Catalena herself was slumped over in her seat, resting her head against her hand with an apathetic look on her face as she played hoops with writing utensils. She didn't bother even trying to get them in there.

In the midst of her improvised game, she heard a male shout from the exterior of the building. Catalena brushed it off, as she had already figured out just who was screaming.

Aiming another pen, she counted quietly to herself, "In 3…2…1…"

The sound of a door slamming open and closed attracted her, and the _thunk thunk _of the pens hitting metal finally ceased. The woman looked up from her desk, configuring the silhouette standing rather heatedly in her office doorway.

_What a surprise; it's him._

"Oh. Well hello." She greeted almost flippantly as she readied to toss another pen.

Cain charged through the grounded papers and pens, reaching her desk and then slamming the series of sheets on her desk. She was now staring at it intently, as Cain himself radiated vibes of annoyance.

She whistled an elongated tune of satisfaction. All the while flipping through the pamphlet of addresses, "So this is the address book of the residents of Dublith; it's even _labeled_? Did I miss my own birthday?"

"Dumbass, " he hissed through clenched teeth, his hand covering the blocks presented on the pages, "I just got a job that required me to find some shady woman forcing a poor senile old man to pay her rent. And when I come home, I realize the address of the culprit is the very same as the one I live in!"

She smirked, brushing away the male's hand as she began to search for addresses that actually interested her, "Aren't you happy I didn't fill in your address that day you wanted me to sign your personal papers? Or else _you'd _be the criminal mastermind behind this." Her eyes sparkled in spite once they caught a particular address. "Oh, but we both know Cain isn't the brainy type…"

"SHUT UP. You didn't sign my papers…?" His jaw slightly dropped.

"So what did you think when you found out the addresses were the same?"

"I found out my childhood friend breaks the law behind my back." Cain grit his teeth together, leaning both hands against the wooden desk.

"I'm not a criminal; it's just business." Becoming bored of the subject, Catalena threw another pen as if it was a dart at the trashcan.

"It's business forcing a poor old man to pay our rent? _Couldn't you at least get an apartment that smells nice?"_ Cain snatched the cup of pens off of her desk, dissuading her from playing with them anymore.

Unfortunately for Cain, Catalena had a drawer of them. Using one of the pens already stationed at her desk, she began writing an address on her palm, "You haven't heard both sides of the story, Cain. That guy was a client of mine."

"Client?" He was all ears for once. She had to use the time wisely before he starts yelling again.

Using her propped elbows, she slid a slip of paper for his eyes to be able to see. It read it bold print: **YOU ARE BEING EVICTED DUE TO LACK OF PAYMENT OF RENT.**

Her fingers entwined with one another, and she rested her chin on her folded hands, "His name's Joseph. He had this huge debt with loan sharks and lacked the money to pay them back. Being an information broker and all, I provided him with unofficial people who could get him the cash, but Joseph was too frightened to dwell within the underworld anymore. So I just paid his debt for him and all he had to do was pay our rent under his name...which he failed."

"…What do you do at home when I'm not around?"

She smirked, launching another pen at the bin, "Oh, nothing. But have you ever heard the idiom 'idle hands are the devil's tools'?"

"But somehow you remain inconspicuous throughout whatever turmoil you cause."

"I don't cause turmoil. It finds its way towards me, and I simply point it in the more interesting direction…"

"You mean like instigating?"

"That's a very interesting word, Cain. Where did you learn that kind of vocabulary?" She teased, the corners of her lips twisting into a smile.

Catalena and Cain have known each other since childhood. Cain wasn't naturally the brainy type and Catalena was always the elusive. Since before their early twenties, they were used to each other's constant poking, teasing, and bickering. After all, what family doesn't have a little conflict every now and again? It was just that these two friends had pointless arguments _every _day.

His face grew flustered at her harsh words.

"But putting aside all of this, I ask that you remain falsely vigilant. Keep your stupid military associates from getting involved in this mess, and I will have it cleaned up in no time. Though I recommend we stay away from this place until this blows over..."

He raised an eyebrow, not really content with the idea of shirking from his duty. Hell, he didn't care what Catalena said; he was sure she should have been under the criminal category. She does business in the Amestrian underworld for crying out loud. And exactly _what _place would she make them live in this time? A box?

Her gaze locked on him with a benevolent stare as she rose from her seat. "I always cleaned up messes _you _got yourself into when we were little, right?" She looked rather cute in any other person's opinion.

Cain however, saw right through her façade, "Telling my mother the neighbor kid broke the window isn't the liable way to solve problems. It's pinning the blame on someone else."

She slipped past him, exiting through the door, "Hey, better him than you, right? I'm off to buy more milk to satisfy your needs. Pack up and see you later."

His hazel eyes glistened momentarily at the thought of fresh, cold milk washing down his throat. It was the reason why Cain was tall, of course.

**(Present time / Night)**

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"Childhood friend?" Greed groaned, burying his head in his arms on the table. Catalena questioned if he had had too many drinks, but she was pretty sure homunculi don't get drunk so easily—especially not Greed, who probably spent all of his time loitering in pubs.

Observing his rather sullen position, she looked amused. This was a face of Greed she hadn't seen before, "Are you jealous or something? I thought you were supposed to personify greed. Don't gloom over one possession you can't get your hands on." She scoffed at him.

His head lifted and those sharp, sadistic-like features caused her to sit up straight in her seat. "Oh, but kitten, that's exactly what makes me want it more! Something that I _can't _have…that's still greed, right there!" He laughed heartily, and even his subordinates were curious to glance at what was funny.

Catalena stared emotionlessly at him as he muttered something else similar on the lines.

"I want _everything_, remember?"

"I thought we were talking about me, but now we're talking about you and your avarice."

Greed changed the subject entirely, "Kitten, I just thought I'd let you know that I'm not too fond of this Cain brat."

"He's 25."

"Whatever. I just want to warn you that we won't be so chummy, got it?"

She folded her arms in front of her, listening to both Greed's voice and the voices of the people around her, "I don't expect you to. But _I'm _going to warn you that Cain has the ability to turn you into the military, and I won't be able to stop him. So don't piss him off, all right? He's already sensitive and hot-headed as it is."

Sensitive? Hot-headed? Now _that _doesn't sound plausible towards the type of guy Catalena would feel comfortable with. This guy must have some insane charm or something.

Heh. Screw that. _No one _has more charm than _Greed. _

He doesn't get women to swoon for him.

Women swoon _because_ of him.

"Don't worry about me, kitten. Everyone loves me around these parts."

"I'm feeling the love already."

"So tell me about this eviction problem of yours…what're you gonna do about it?"

Catalena stared at the bartender counter, her pupils following each intricate swirl of the mahogany wood. It was true that she had promised Cain that she would be able to handle their little problem, and even though she had already devised a plan to fix it, she wasn't entirely sure how it would all play out. Though there was one thing she was certain about.

"Shoot the bitch."

**Earlier that day (Evening)**

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In one hand she bore a brown paper bag of groceries (Cain's favorite brand of milk) and in the other her gray eyes were scanning through her old clients' phone numbers. Catalena was obviously searching for the middle aged good-for-nothing Joseph's, so that she could question him on the eviction matter.

In the middle of her late afternoon stroll, the woman stopped by a phone booth. By then she had already located Joseph's old phone number, and if he had changed it, (Which would be the logical thing to do) she would race to the end of the world just to find the amended one.

After slipping a few cens into the phone change system, she punched in the numbers and pressed the phone to her face, listening to the sound of the dial tone.

~"…H-Hello?"

Catalena smirked as she instantly recognized the fear that lined this man's vocals. Just as afraid as he was back three years ago when he begged her for help, "…Hellloooo~ Is this Joseph Warner?"

~"Who is this?" The voice demanded instantly. Anticipating that he was probably about to hang up on her, Catalena went straight to the point.

Glancing at the groceries sitting by the door she replied to the man, "It's your old friend, Miss Artenie. I kept those loan sharks from putting a hit on you, remember?"

~"…"

"I believe you recall the conditions of that agreement. So long as I live in that apartment, you are obligated to continue to pay the rent under your name. Isn't that correct, sir? Or will _I _have to take matters into my own hands?"

~"M-Miss Artenie. I'm sorry, but I'm in a bind right now. Money isn't easy to come by…"

"Why would you agree to something you can't hold your word to?" She questioned, looking serious as she stared through the clear surface of the inner phone booth.

There was neither an answer nor a sign of it.

"…Right. I see the subject is sensitive to you. But why bring the State Military into this? Do you honestly hold a grudge over me?" She grinned from her end of the line, "…Do you _want _to make an enemy of me, too? The only person whose actually attempted to help you?"

~"It's the only way I can get any sort of income…by framing you, hopefully I can get a grant." Poor thing. He must be shaking out of his shoes speaking such words to her. But why more money? What in the world does he even do with all this damn money?

"Ah, so every man for himself, then, Mr. Warner?"

~"…I'm afraid so. If you're as smart as you make yourself out to be, you'd escape out of there before the military gets to you."

"Don't worry about me, Mr. Warner. I'll be fine. How about you? How's life? Your wife…?" Catalena spoke casually, despite that the man was actually endangering her own life.

~"…"

"You two still seeing each other?"

~"You stay the hell out of my life!"

The man hung up.

She listened to the buzz of the dial tone before heaving a sigh, placing the public phone properly back on the receiver before grabbing her bags from the doorway. Fixing her blue v-neck sweater as she exited, the woman's thoughts remained untroubled as she took her few steps out into the street. It was sunset already, and she had to get home before the milk got warm.

Once she neared an eerie looking alleyway, however, the irregular placement of a gray-looking tail caught her attention.

As she drew nearer to it, Catalena couldn't help but peer curiously as it twitched slightly. Raising an eyebrow, she tiptoed towards it; once getting close enough, her black flats hovered along the brunt of it. The sole of her shoe clamped down like a gator's jaw.

"OWWWWW! That really hurt!" A male-sounding shriek, and a very meek one at that sounded.

The owner of the tail slipped away and a very stout face finally peeked out from the shadows at her. She was looking at an unfamiliar face (But something about the scales that framed it seemed memorable). Conversely, the almost inhuman being grinned quite happily, "Miss Artenie, right? Right? You've been helping Mr. Greed!"

At the sudden mention of the homunculus, this lizard-like thing had her full attention, "…Greed's a friend of yours?"

The short scaly "human" seemed all too happy about the subject, "Oh, yes! Yes, very much so! Mr. Greed and I have been friends for quite some time now! There are also others like me—they're—"

"I thought that the crude homunculus would be the type to make friends with sewer mutants." Catalena face palmed, shaking her head scornfully but not actually feeling spiteful about it. She looked almost solemn as her next words came out, "…I almost thought he was a popular guy the way he flaunts around like he owns the damn world."

The lizard human fidgeted his fingers together, unnerved by Catalena's mockery of his friend/master. "Mi-mister Greed isn't a bad guy at all…"

Lowering her head down at the somber-looking expression etched on his face, Catalena felt a little pitiful. All right, so maybe—MAYBE Greed wasn't just an obnoxious, avaricious, rapidly increasing egotistical guy after all. Hell, she probably was just as sinful as he was. Who was she to judge him?

"Yeah, I guess I agree. I guess you can say I look forward to his weekly visits; though only because he pays a rather adequate sum of cens for my services." Holding the paper bag in one hand, she stroked her chin sinisterly with the other.

Now the guy in front of her didn't know what the Stone Greed did with Miss Artenie, and for some reason he wasn't curious anymore. Since Greed had always preferred beautiful woman by his side when they were at the Devil's Nest, maybe he wanted a more colorful and restrained woman who played by the rules when he was by himself.

But Catalena didn't mind breaking the rules to make the game a little more fun. Doing the same thing repeatedly isn't _ever _appealing.

"So what did you want, what's-your-face?"

"I-It's Bido! And Mr. Greed actually sent me off to look for you…" Bido peeked in between her legs and to the sides of them. He was cautious of people with wandering eyes.

Noticing his precautions, Catalena casually strode off into the alleyway Bido was hiding in. The shadows of the adjacent buildings towered over their miniature figures as the sun was finishing its set.

"…So, Bido. Is Mr. Greed requesting my appearance because he wants to get on my good side or something?" They walked side-by-side leisurely.

"Mr. Greed wants to make sure you're okay, because he knows about your problem." Bido had a smile on his face for some reason.

His smile was contagious. "…Is he stalking me or something? So he knows about the eviction ordeal?"

Bido stopped to gape at her, "E-eviction? You're getting evicted, Miss Artenie?"

"I'll take that as a no. But he probably was still stalking me…"

**(Present time / Night )**

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"I have better things to do than follow you in suit, kitten. Busy guy like me, doing underworldly business everywhere…" Greed smirked. The two had moved their conversation to a surprisingly lavish red couch. Greed was sort of hogging the brunt of the couch, and Catalena was seated cross-legged over one of its arms, purposely avoiding his own draped arms.

There were wandering eyes from his gang of chimera, but they were notably civilized and good mannered, "How else would you know?"

Greed grinned at her, the rim of his round glasses sliding off his nose as he leaned forward. He caught the sunglasses with one hand while his other hand's index finger pointed skyward, "That lizard chimera you were with? Bido—he's good at climbing walls. The rest of it was just a shot in the dark."

A red tint grew on her cheeks. He could scale walls? Just think of all the things Bido was capable of! Then again, he didn't seem a very perverted type of person/chimera to start with. "…So you have been stalking me."

"Stalking lacks class. So I have my possessions do it for me."

Possessions? So that's what he thought of them?

"That's an interesting way of putting it. Unlike pawns, you don't smile if they're killed, huh?" A test—that was what her question was.

"Of course not, kitten." Greed grunted as he lifted himself off of the couch, exercising his stiff legs. He folded his arms behind him and yawned before letting them fall limply again. Craning his neck to catch a glimpse of her flat expression he grinned again, "But killing my possessions is just the fancy way of saying 'taking away from me'. Which is the same as stealing. And I don't like people _stealing _my things."

Her thin neck rested on the arm of the couch, still locking a diligent gaze with the homunculus, "Sounds logical. I like the way you think, Greed."

The black-haired man standing before her smiled, and gestured towards himself as he offered, "So, you want to get rid of this old man, right? Do you need some help? I'm already a wanted criminal—being an artificially created human and all. It'll be no big deal for me to run in and stab him a few times 'till he stops moving."

"No," the woman quickly objected, "I won't risk you getting compromised. "

Greed held his waist, whistling in satisfaction, "Whoo, so you really do care about me, eh, kitten?"

"Nothing of the sort. It's just bad on my record if my client was killed because of my own personal matters." She closed her eyes, fighting off sleep as she spread her legs on the couch.

It was quiet for a few moments. Catalena almost thought he tiptoed out of the room (All of the other chimera had departed already). Then the cushions of the couch sunk and she looked over her shoulder to see Greed seating himself against her folded legs.

Even though he was just sitting there so closely to her and looking narrowly innocent, she couldn't help but feel suspicious of his convoluted shark-like grin. Greed was avaricious—he had the desire for the finer things in life. That of which did not just involve money or other riches. She could expect the unexpected from him.

"Kitten, I told you about an hour ago."

Thoughts of Cain's milk getting spoiled suddenly popped in her mind.

"Business relationships are more interesting when you add a little _spice _in them."

Catalena sighed, looking away from his almost alluring gaze. She recalled giving Greed hope about a friendship sort of personal deal, but nothing any deeper than that. What was he, like 200 years old? She was only 22. She wasn't a math whiz, but that was a rather large gap.

Relationships weren't really her thing. If they were, she probably would have married Cain already. Who else would she devote the rest of her life to besides the person she had spent most of it with?

There was always the possibility that Greed would just be using her to sate his avarice. Now she didn't want a relationship like that, especially since she only knew the fool for about half a year. It was exchange, exchange, exchange in service and cash and nothing else. Now suddenly he wants to push himself into her life.

It all seemed impossible to her.

"Sounds unrealistic." She finally replied to him, closing her eyes as she buried her face in her arms against the couch's edge.

Greed had sounded an amused chuckle and then nothing else. Just as she was nearing sleep, he added subtlety,

"_Nothing _is impossible."

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Hope you all enjoyed it. I'll see you all in a week again~ Thank you for your feedback and reviews~ Just in case it's causing confusion and anyone hasn't picked it up, Cain is part of the military and Catalena is not. She's an info broker, but it doesn't necessarily mean she's a criminal. Hell, sometimes cops have to work with people like her to get some juicy info. Catalena is still an alchemist, but it isn't revealed what she is specialized in~

Thank you for reading and review~ Oh and Cain isn't an alchemist. He's a just real good shot with guns and he's got pecs. Points for being normal! :D**  
><strong>


	3. The Good, the Bad, and the Squinty

**A/N: **'Ello, 'ello. How has this Sunday gone for you all? OH WELL. WHO CARES. I just want to confess that over the past week, so many IDEAS have planted themselves inside my brain. Yes. Like fruit. They're just waiting for me to NOMNOM at them. SO I HAVE A HUUUUGE QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS.

Some people want this story to be Greed x OC x Ling as well. See, the problem here is…to make the story much more independent than the actual plotline of Brotherhood, I popped in Cain, the other OC. At first he was just there to show more of Catalena's personality and junk, but after the week passed he's become much more relevant to the story, and I just love him bunches now that I'm trying to also incorporate his own roles.

UGH. I RAN OFF TRACK (How embarrassing). So, anyway, this story is also OC x OC and I don't want Catalena to be a whore so I was reluctant to do Ling X OC along with Greed. BUT I REALLY **DO **WANT TO DO LING X OC. 'Cause he's so cute. So my question for you guys is…

Should I do another story just for Ling x OC? I ACTUALLY HAVE ALREADY THOUGHT OF AN OC FOR THIS. X3

Just leave your opinions on a review on what I should do, as it will influence my decision. Oh, but don't forget to review on your thoughts on this chapter as well.

OK LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE SHORT, LET US READ THE STORY NAO.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, THERE WOULD BE SO MUCH MORE GREED/LING ACTION/FIGHTING.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Rapacious<em>**

**.**

_|I don't like that man. I must get to know him.|_

**Chapter 3**

The Good, the Bad, and the Squinty

**.**

My name is Cain Ashford. I'm a Cancer and twenty-five years old. From first impressions, people would often describe me as organized, levelheaded, and approachable. The problem with this is that these observations are composed from my military colleagues… who I have yet to get to know personally. When in the military, one only takes orders and fulfills them.

Catalena usually calls me stupid, but I'm not truthfully. It's only because she relies on logic and realism, finding the most tactful way to solve any situation. Well, I may harbor the burden called compassion she lacks, and I may be overprotective and…sensitive—but even I can see with my sympathetic eyes that the thing she has made a friend with in front of me is not

Even

Human.

Shows what kind of realist she is.

**. . .**

She had only just awoken, finding the hour of the day to be almost afternoon. The night before she had drowned under a conversation with Greed, but the point of it had dissipated overnight. Once she pulled off the rather rough covers, she found that she had been removed from the interior of the Devil's Nest, and transferred into one of the Pub's bedrooms.

Well it wasn't worse than the apartment's scratchy felt blankets. Nonetheless, Greed would still be filed a complaint signed with love, by Catalena.

Once she dragged herself in her old attire from yesterday, scratching her bedridden hair, she did not expect to find Greed with another familiar face as she entered the main (and empty) section of the building.

"Cain…?" Her gray eyes, still half-asleep, were rubbed and accompanied with a yawn.

Once his figure and appearance became clear to her and she had rightfully discerned it was her childhood friend, she realized it had been too late to stop him.

Cain already had a gun fitted tightly in one of his hands, aiming it directly at Greed with a distasteful gaze etched on his serious face. His victim didn't peel his own eyes off of him, but it wasn't a glare or anything hateful—more like unimpressed.

"Oh, so this is the hot-headed brat you've been talking about, kitten?" purple eyes glanced at her from Greed's peripheral vision. They cautiously drove back to focus on Cain, "…I can see the hot-headed-ness. But the way he's pointing that gun at me, I fail to see the sensitivity…"

"Cain, drop that gun before you hurt yourself."

Hazel eyes broke heated intensity and faltered into offense and hurt, "Catalena—"

"Ah, there's the sensitivity." Greed chirped, now feeling completely at ease despite the gun still pointed at him.

Cain immediately regained his resentful demeanor, using both hands to hold the gun, "What the hell is this? Who the hell is this? This is the type of people you hang around with? _Who _is this guy?"

"No, the question here is who the hell are you," Greed snorted, placing a hand on his chest as he scoffed. Scanning Cain's military outfit he added, "…and just who do you think _you_ are intruding upon my humble abode?"

The younger man of the two's teeth clenched before he readied to sound a retort, but Catalena butted in, wrapping her hand around the barrel of the rifle in an attempt to stop Cain.

The gun was slowly lowered from Catalena's influence, "He's my client, and a very loyal one at that. He's offered for us to stay here at his pub, which I accepted. As his guests, it wouldn't be fair of us to return his hospitality with hostility."

There were moments that drifted along with unvoiced thoughts. Cain's own expression was flat, but somewhat flustered as his hazel eyes darted between unimpressed Greed and half-awake Catalena. Reluctantly, he had sighed, turning the safety of the gun off before holstering it on his belt. "I don't know what you are…so explain yourself."

Greed raised an eyebrow as he stood indignantly.

Cain's eyebrows furrowed, "Since even _I _can tell that you're not an ordinary human."

Greed clapped, and he laughed humorlessly, "Kitten mentioned you weren't very bright, but you look pretty sharp to me, kid." In between the motions of his clapping, Cain caught the red lining of an odd tattoo on the back of his left hand.

"I'd say he's an idealist. Too focused on the thoughts and ideas of things instead of looking at the big picture that was conveniently placed right in front of you." Catalena, who was slightly more alert, began speaking in her usual matter-of-factly tone. Her eyes adjusted on her childhood friend, and looked distant, "I don't know how I came to get to know a person like that, but I guess he interested me. Maybe I just wanted to see how a person like him contrasted me, with his compassionate, intuitive views…"

Greed purred at Catalena, stroking his defined facial features, "Ooh, kitten, that's a little mean. I don't even know the guy and I'm already feeling sorry for him."

Cain did not fully comprehend the meaning behind Catalena's words, but he still felt hurt. Did that mean that Catalena was just using him all of those years? Was he just an object she used to compare herself to? Cain faced his "friend" emotionless, lips slightly parted in shock, and eyes not actually processing her presence in front of him.

She was just manipulating him—there were exactly _no _personal feelings? This girl he had spent all of his life and shared all of his emotions with—even if they weren't returned—it was all just a farce after all?

As Cain began swimming within a typhoon of his own troubled thoughts, Catalena berated Greed, "Let me finish before you jump to conclusions, Greed."

Her sudden outburst pulled Cain back into reality.

Catalena was now staring Greed down while he looked pretty distraught, "…Maybe…" her gaze shifted to observe Cain's hopeful expression, "…there was an entirely different feeling buried beneath all of those propositions. And that's why he's still here."

"…"

The black-haired younger man of the two's previously depressed face curved into a gratifying smile. Catalena was an introverted person when it came to her feelings. To see her spill even a little bit of her thoughts when it came to something personal instead of logical, was rare.

And since he had known her most of his life, he could count this moment to be the second time.

"Okay, okay, I get it; you guys are close." Greed grumbled, folding his hands behind his back as he paced around the room. Once both the humans' eyes were on him he ceased to face them, "I'll keep that in mind when kitten and I are alone~" He smirked at Cain, whose hand immediately made a dash for his pistol.

He suffered a quick elbow to the ribs, on account of Catalena.

Greed grinned at her gesture, even more flattered that she cared if he did get shot or not, "Anyway…I think we should work a few things out if the brat and I are going to be in the same building. I don't want to turn a corner and find a gun being pointed directly at my face. Even if it doesn't kill me, it gets kind of annoying."

"Which brings me straight back to my old question; just what are you, Greed? Or whatever your name is." Cain spat, his limbs relaxing.

The man called Greed grinned teasingly as he gestured towards his taut chest, "Oh, so kitten _does _keep a few secrets from her boyfriend? I guess there's a chance for me after all!" Greed's left hand flashed in front of him, which showed Cain his Ouroboros tattoo, "I'm a homunculus. If you don't know what that is, I suggest you question kitten over there."

"Homunculus?" Cain repeated after Greed, directing it at Catalena.

Catalena was facepalming, agitated by Greed's nickname, "It's an artificially created human. From what Greed has informed me with, there are others like him, and they all possess abilities that surpass the natural human. The only other thing I can tell you is that they require a Philosopher's Stone to act as their heart—but hell if I know where to get one of those."

"Philosopher's Stone?"

"Another thing that makes even _me_ draw a blank…hm. I'm not entirely sure what it is. Greed, could you do me a favor and explain it to him?"

"Naw, kitten, I think I'm about to fall over from boredom here. When I said you two could stay here, I didn't say I'd baby your little brother for you too."

"She's younger than me, damn it!" Cain cried in pointless retort. There he went again, speaking before thinking.

"…Moving on to something interesting, what's today's agenda? By the way if you're going out, please take big softie here with you."

Cain's piercing glare only amused Greed while Catalena replied, "Well…I think I'm going to look into a bit about Joseph Warner's current whereabouts. You know, stalking. If you have Bido scurrying around somewhere, could I take him with me?"

"Oh, sure. But you'll have to find him first," the homunculus turned tail and headed towards the exit, "If you need me I'll be somewhere around here." After granting them a single wave, he disappeared.

Catalena began rolling the sleeves of her blue v-neck sweater further up her arms as she questioned Cain, "Well, I'm heading out. I'm not going to baby you, but since it is your day off today—and frankly it doesn't seem to be going well—you should take some alone time off."

Regardless, Cain was fashioned in his State Military uniform. Catalena's only possible reasoning was that he had put on the suit once he found out about the Devil's Nest. How he even found out about it in the first place confused her.

"I really don't like this guy, Catalena," he admitted, giving her a look that screamed for help.

Stormy eyes watched him expectantly, "…I can tell. But please, he's not so bad as you think. Give Greed a chance."

"That's on your terms. On _my _terms, he's an abomination!" Cain said it with a forceful tone.

"Look, Cain. Think of it this way; it just wouldn't be fair for you to declare that just because he's different than us that he doesn't have the same rights."

Cain shut his mouth, trying to find the right words to say as to not offend Catalena. This was sort of new to him. She usually only wasted her breath defending herself or him—to witness her coming to Greed's defense made him feel rather suspicious that she was developing some sort of…feelings for the homunculus.

The very idea of it brought waves of jealousy to course through him.

"Whatever," Cain muttered, turning his back on her, "…I'll hang around Dublith, then. See you later."

Her eyes bore into his back, expecting him to turn around and see her current expression. Yes, she suspected he would not like Greed. His personality itself was atrocious, but she had looked over it. Cain was never the type to be kind to men—especially ones that were close to her.

Maybe he was jealous? She couldn't swallow the idea.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"I'm happy Cain was assigned this particular task… " Catalena's monotone voice was directed at the short being accompanying her, "…Now it's my responsibility to make sure everything flows smoothly."

Bido, who had a very raggedy looking cloak pulled over most of his body, looked up at her nervously, "Miss Artenie, you know Mr. Greed isn't very fond of your human friend…"

"Oh, really? I didn't notice."

Despite it being early afternoon and that one of them wasn't human, they were walking a very casual stride alongside other civilians of Dublith. Bido made sure to keep his hood on extra tight and to fold his tail inside the baggy cloak.

"Well, yes, didn't you notice?" Beady eyes looked up to sour ones. Catalena's eyes were sour because the person beside her had no sense of sarcasm. "A-anyway…why did you ask me to come along? I was surprised that—"

"Since Greed would probably get you to follow me anyway, I'd rather it be of my own accordance. Besides, I could use your spider skills." Still on the palm of her hand was the address she had written from the pamphlet Cain threw at her the day before. She would find the place Joseph lived at, and use Bido's spy skills to snoop around a bit before making her next move. "…I still can't believe this guy would dare to break our agreement and even turn me into the military. He's so going to end up dead."

"You're going to kill him?" Bido's voice raised, loud enough for people who were nearby could hear them. He immediately brought his hands over his mouth once Catalena glared at him, but it was futile.

A pair of military officers, who just so happened to be those nearby people, began closing in on them.

"M-my apologies, M-miss Artenie!" Bido muttered, clinging one of his hands onto the fabric of her tight pants.

Catalena heaved a sigh, glancing between the two officers gesturing for them to stay where they were and then to Bido, who began trembling, "Just follow my lead."

**. **

**.**

**.**

The young Sergeant Major strolled through the marketplace of Dublith, keeping an eye on his watch as well as browsing any interesting trade goods. He always kept a hefty sum of cash on him wherever he went, and he didn't mind spending it—contrary to Catalena, who preferred to hoard it.

Along with the other shoppers in the busy marketplace, he sort of stood out in his military uniform, so most of the shouting voices were obviously directed at him.

"Hello Officer! Would you like to try some of these imported fruits? Courtesy of Xing!"

"No thank you, miss, " Cain smiled at the merchant, giving her a curt wave.

"SIR! SIR! WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY SOME OF THESE SOAPS?"

"No thank you, I have much at home, "Cain, turning around to face the owner of the voice, was met with a old man with large beady eyes.

"THEY'RE MADE FROM THE FINEST FATS OF ANIMALS."

"…Uh,—"

"I GUARANTEE YOU YOUR TONED BODY WILL BE CLEAN."

"..."

"Mister! Would you like some fresh milk?"

"Well, if it's fresh, I—"

"Guns! Guns for sale, here!"

His hazel eyes were fixed on a gun salesman advertising his goods. The offer for milk was erased from his mind. With a smile so excited it rivaled that of a child's, the soles of his military boots began their course towards the gunsmith.

Cain gave the stranger a very friendly wave and smile before scanning through his collection of pistols. Cain preferred pistols to rifles anyway, as they were easier to hide within his military uniform.

Glee shot up from within him as he fancied a particular model. Reaching for his wallet within his pant pocket, his gaze lifted to the awaiting merchant, "One second, please—"

"Sure."

The bearded and welcoming face of the tradesman then melted into a sheath of black as his vision became hindered. Not so much as hindered—more like he was completely blind as everything became dark. It was a bag or something similar being pulled over his head. Did he just become some victim in a criminal act like theft within the marketplace?

"Excuse me, but I need to borrow you for a second," a male voice spoke cheerfully to his curtained ear.

His hands were about to pull the casing off of his face but they were restrained against his back; the feeling of quick hand movements came after, wrapping his wrists and hands into a tight knot with a rope. Before he knew it, he was lifted off of his feet and it felt like he was being carried away. There was some hard shoulder that was pressing itself against his tight stomach. Then swift movement ensued. He felt himself being pushed through the lively crowd.

"Outta the way, people! This is a kidnapping! A kidnapping! Make room or I'll stab him!"

"EEK!"

"KIDNAPPER!"

"Someone call the military!"

Cain was able to mutter some sort of curse, but it became lost within the shouts of other people around him. Something was happening—he being kidnapped? He didn't recall any certain individuals he pissed off…

"Wait, what the hell—!" His shortened breath repelled back at him as it bounced off the inner surface of the sack. His indiscreet kidnapper didn't utter a word in reply, hasting his movement even more.

So he was being kidnapped…

Worst. Day. Ever.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"You're telling me this thing here is your son?"

"Yes! Can't you see the resemblance?" Catalena brought Bido to her side, giving the two dumbfounded officers a strained smile.

"Well…he's…" the other officer grimaced at the blotches (scales) framing Bido's face. They had requested he put the hood down.

"You're calling my son ugly? Is that what you're saying? So you're implying that I'm ugly too since he's my son, right?"

"No—no ma'am! That's not what we meant at all! He's just…we don't see the resem—"

"I can't believe you people! He got his looks from his daddy! His father may not be the handsomest man in the world, but it's what's on the inside that counts!" Tears began forming in the corners of her eyes as she threw her arms around Bido's short neck. Bido in return, tried to muster a very helpless look as he stared at the officers.

The two State Military officers gave each other looks with mixed emotions. There was one thing they were both sure of, however. Never call a lady ugly. You stop being a man at that point.

"Um, let's all forget this ever happened, ma'am." Number one said.

"Yeah, don't worry about the whole investigation thing." Number two added.

Her eyes were still watery while she stared up at them, grateful, "T-thank you! My husband will be so happy to have the normal amount of stress he does at home! Say goodbye, Wordsworth."

Taking it as his cue, Bido stuttered, "G-goodbye!"

"Yeah, bye."

"Later."

The two promptly left the scene with the same sense of awkwardness they had entered with. Bido felt a burden being lifted off of his shoulders while Catalena merely sniffed away at the congestion bottled up in her nose. Crying causes stuffy noses, of course.

"That was close. Lucky us."

"All in a day's work, "Catalena, still stuffy, mumbled. Her attention shifted to the height of the sun, which meant it was still afternoon.

At that moment in time, putting her objectives aside, she wondered what Cain was doing.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The burlap bag was still encasing his head, but regardless he screamed, "What the hell is this! Why am I being kidnapped!" The form of his body beneath the container shifted in its bounds. They tied him to a chair.

After what seemed an eternity of being blind, the perpetrators pulled the bag off of his head, and he was granted sight again.

He didn't expect three ninjas inside a dimly lit room crowding around him.

He had one eyebrow raised, distraught, "…Um…what is this? You're obviously not Amestrian…"

Two of them were wearing hideous masks (In his opinion) and one had only his collar pulled up to cover the lower half of his face. The top half revealed long black bangs on one side of his face and squinty (Benevolent?) eyes.

The squinty-eyed one pulled down his facemask that revealed a smile. He raised one friendly hand as he greeted Cain, "Hey there! What's your name?"

Cain felt all of the air become stolen from him as the kidnapper said those words. This guy kidnapped him without knowing who he was?

"…What the fuck?"

The peculiar stranger's thin eyebrows rose at Cain's remark, but instead he took it lightly, "Oh, so you're confused? Okay, well you see, my name is Ling Yao! I'm from the country of Xing."

"…" He thought they had to be foreign, and not just from looks either.

The other young man gestured a hand to the silent ninjas beside him, "These two are friends of mine who do whatever I tell them to, but I thought it'd be fun if I did a little bit of the work this time."

"…So…you're the one who kidnapped me. Do you mind telling me why?"

"I've heard rumors about an information broker who has vast knowledge of this country. I'm here to look for him! In my search, I was given an address, but when we got there, there was an eviction sign on the door…"

The memories of his anger from the day before boiled within him.

"So I knew we had to dig a little deeper…" Ling smiled, looking rather avaricious as his squinty eyes peered at Cain, "With the help of my shady retainers, we dug a little bit into the military files in…Dublith, right?"

"And you found a description for the officer that was assigned the task of military investigation towards the eviction…right? Which was me."

"Yup! But I seem to have forgotten your name. Oh well! Do you know where this information broker is?" Ling beamed, crouching down in front of Cain.

Hazel eyes filled with distaste stared back at the charismatic being. It wasn't that he hated this person, he just didn't like that he was kidnapped. He could have just asked him, and he might've answered sincerely.

"…It's Cain Ashford…and…since you're a criminal in my eyes, I guess it wouldn't hurt telling you something a little criminal about myself." Ling's eyebrows raised in questioning. "…The thing is, the information broker you're looking for just so happens to be my roommate…I'm basically hiding her from the law right about now."

Ling's only appropriate response was, "Ohhh~ so it's a she, then! Interesting."

Cain felt his temples heat up as well as his cheeks. Struggling against his binds, he rocked his chair in uncontainable anger, "F-forget about that! What the hell do you want to know about, anyway?"

His retainers stirred from behind him, and Ling himself smirked very mischievously. Cain watched him curiously, a scowl etched on his face. Though he couldn't help but feel a trickle of sweat trail down his face as Ling's expression looked darker than before.

"You wouldn't understand. You're just a dog of your military." Ling finished, grinning.

That remark offended Cain greatly.

"The hell you mean 'dog of the military'? If I was a dog, I'd turn in Catalena a long time ago!" He snarled, his chair's legs streaked against the floor as he attempted to lunge at Ling.

Ling laughed, backing up a tinge, "Oooh~ sounds like a confession! Look, I don't want to get on your bad side, Cain. I just want to meet this Catalena friend of yours."

His cheeks blew up from all of the heated emotion, but then he let it all out in one defeated sigh. "…Alright. If you let me write a reconnaissance message on a letter, I'll give you the address to where she can find it and meet with you."

"…" Ling had an unreadable expression. He was probably considering Cain's proposition. Obviously he could just beat the information out of him, but he seemed a pretty nice guy.

"She'll come for certain if I'm your hostage. I know it."

"…Well…Okay. What's the address?"

Cain fiddled around his thoughts for a moment, disliking the idea of going to Greed for help. But at least he was enough of a man to admit he needed help, "…Devil's Nest."

**(Night)**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Catalena entered the building, Bido brushing in after her. Once she was inside of the establishment, the smell of alcohol and smoke filled her nostrils. She could also catch the scent of vomit, but that was something she'd rather not ponder about.

Immediately as she entered, a masculine voice was directed at her, "Oi, it's you."

She found it to be Dolcetto, the human chimera who had his genes fused with a dog's and loved samurai get ups.

"Dolcetto, right?" She pointed, "..." After registering him in her vision, she realized in the smoky haze of the Devil's Nest pub were others.

She recognized each of them, and no matter how foggy their names were, was able to distinguish them. Roa, the cow human chimera, Martel, the snake human chimera, a crocodile, Bido, and then some other chimera that just didn't interest her.

And then in the back of the pub was none other than Greed, situating himself between two curvy women and looking quite fulfilled.

"Oh, hey, kitten!" He called upon noticing Catalena and Bido. Immediately his hands pushed against the backs of the two women, and they looked at him in protest.

Catalena realized what he was doing and quickly stopped him, "That's fine. But is this how you spend your immortal years?"

"Psh. It doesn't matter how I live my life since I'm immortal." He paused, his purple eyes lifting to the ceiling in thought, "…Well, almost immortal."

"Almost?"

Dolcetto, who had been the first to greet her, suddenly shoved a slip of paper into her hands. She stared down at it, instantly inferring it to be none other than Cain's handwriting.

"Says it's from your boyfriend, "Greed announced. It was clear that he had read the letter while she was gone, "He's been kidnapped or something."

"And you didn't do anything about it?" Catalena almost hissed, but restrained herself.

"Hey, like I said, I don't like the kid. It wouldn't matter to me if he got killed in a train crash or something." Greed smirked, finding amusement in the thought.

She glared daggers at him, and if looks could kill, Greed would have died a thousand times instantaneously.

He frowned upon noticing it, "…But, um, in the letter it requested that I don't do anything. That Cain needed only _your _help. I'm not the stubborn one here."

True to his word, she had reached the very same paragraph he was mentioning. Catalena's stormy gray eyes softened at it. "…Oh."

"I wouldn't do anything that would anger you, kitten." He purred again, to her chagrin.

She smiled though, and it earned her frowns from Greed's gang. "I'm flattered. But I think you should focus your attention on the women you have your arms draped around." The two ladies giggled after her comment, but Greed didn't respond to them. Instead he watched as the woman he really was interested in walk out of his front door,

"Wait, you're going to go save him by yourself? It's almost pitch dark."

Still facing the exit, her hand slipped into her pockets. Brown gloves were revealed and she slipped them on tightly. Craning her neck to smirk at the homunculus, she chimed, "Don't worry your handsome little face. I'll be back."

As she left the pub, Greed couldn't help but chuckle,

"Handsome~"

"Our boss is such a playboy."

"But he's also playing with all of us, and we're okay with it."

"Yeah, I guess. I just hope my undying loyalty doesn't get me killed one day."

"Don't jynx yourself, Dolcetto."

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Here! Want some of this?" The Xingese man, who had shed his black attire, was now wearing a goldenrod shirt that was unbuttoned so it showed his toned chest, and baggy white pants. The bright colors reflected off of his bright nature. After spending hours with the Xingese countrymen, Cain was sure of two things.

One, this guy wasn't at all malevolent.

And two, that pair of ninjas in the background really scare him.

In reality, Ling was gesturing a bowl of rice to Cain, but he only frowned and politely declined it. "No thanks. I'm not hungry after suffering three hours of rope burn centered around my stomach area."

"Suit yourself~"

Cain and even his two bodyguards watched in disbelief as he began wolfing down numerous amounts of food he had purchased with Cain's wallet. Did it annoy Cain? Yes. Was he going to do something about it? Maybe later. When he wasn't tied up.

They were in that same warehouse they dragged Cain into, confined for approximately a good three hours to get the letter sent and then to wait for Catalena's arrival. Cain didn't exactly mind, either. He actually preferred being kidnapped by those three individuals than sharing stink eye with Greed.

The only thing he hoped for during that time was that Catalena did come to save him. He had always believed in her, but after finding out her feelings of him and the lies she kept, he was a little unstable.

**.**

**.**

**.**

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><p><strong>AN: **Ling, Ling, my love~ Let's elope together if you were real! :D

Anyway, in all seriousness, please leave a review on your thoughts for the situation in the first author's note and then for this chapter. Thank you and see you next Sunday!

Also on a very minor note, check for frequent updates on my profile. It's usually a drawing of my OCs or something like that. Since I suck at coloring, I think I'm just going to photoshop the lineart instead of screwing up my already mediocre sketches with rainbow vomit.

Please review so I may eat them and gather inspiration for the next chapter and MAYBE a new story!**  
><strong>


	4. Innocence is Misleading

**A/N:** 'Ello, 'ello~ This chapter is pretty long. Yeah. I thought I should end it the way it's been ended. Anyway. Yes, this story is OC x OC because Cain is in love with Catalena, and it's Greed x OC because well, Greed ends up with Catalena. That's the whole point as to why you're even reading this, right? ANYWHO. The story finally peels off of Cain and focuses on Catalena again. (THANK GOD) Nah, just kidding, I like Cain.

See profile for pictures of my OCs? AS WELL AS NEWLY ANNOUNCED OC FOR NEW STORY. /throws confetti

Warning! Major time skips in this chapter! As well as a cliffhanger! D:

**Disclaimer: **IF I OWNED FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST EVERYONE WOULD HAVE A PHILOSOPHER'S STONE_** DURRHURR  
><strong>_

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><p><em><strong>Rapacious<strong>_

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_| Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically—for our mutual good. |_

**Chapter 4**

Innocence is Misleading

**.**

The Sun had already fled this side of the world, leaving the sky in an endless sheet of black. Yet the woman strolling the streets strolled without fear, her body and mind guided by the directions mentioned in the letter. Though she wasn't ecstatic about Cain's capture, she was curious in who required her services so urgently they'd kidnap a member of the military.

It must have been a very relevant case.

Humidity from the air irritated her. Catalena was as grateful as she could be once a nearby street sign matched the address of the letter's. It turned out to be a series of warehouses; the mystery of their being further induced by the foggy haze that clouded around.

Yes, it was the perfect setting for a situation like this. There was a damsel in distress (Except the fact that the damsel was male) that required rescuing. Cliché in her opinion, but interesting.

Then the atmosphere suddenly changed.

Well…maybe she had miscalculated or misconceived the addition of the two enigmatic henchmen.

A pair of silent entities sheathed in black. Their identities were hidden behind a peculiar looking mask, save for their eyes. Those eyes spoke well enough however, that they've seen the same criminal things Catalena had.

"…The young lord has been expecting you," an elderly voice belonging to one of the masked figures said. The both of them drew knives on her, and she was feeling threatened.

Catalena didn't like the idea of being forced.

Yet she stood still, their foreign weapons brandished only a few feet away from each other. Gray eyes drifted from the both of them, displaying naught but slight irritation. "A young lord? Interesting," was all she chided, smirking and walking through them.

The sharp and stern gaze of one of them looked angered as she slipped through. Perfect. Something to use against them later if need be.

Entering through the creaky wooden door with the black figures at her heels, her eyes spotted Cain slouching over in a seat. His eyes were pinched shut while his expression looked dark and heavy.

A sense of worry shot through her, and Catalena bounded toward her friend, kneeling down and gripping his shoulders, calling his name in panic, "Cain! Cain! Are you—" Her stormy gray eyes widened to their full height.

He was snoring.

As the two figures behind her closed the door upon their entrance, Catalena scowled at her friend, his sleeping face about to meet her fist.

Luckily for Cain, the bubbly demeanor of a fifth individual caught her attention,

"Oh, hi! You must be Catalena Artenie, am I right?"

Slowly she faced his way, instantly registering a young man dressed in a goldenrod jacket and baggy pants waving becomingly at her. His spiky black hair blew out in his face, but it failed to shield that cheerful expression that was etched on it. He looked almost innocent in her opinion.

"…You are…?"

"I'm really popular today! It's Ling Yao, of Xing. Since you two are practically in my custody, I'm proclaiming we'll know each other for a while, so; these two are my retainers. " Ling finished matter-of-factly and folded his arms within each sleeve as he sat cross-legged on a discarded cabinet.

A snore erupted from Cain's sleeping figure as Catalena gave Ling a deadpan look. Now what would some foreign brat want with her?

"…The letter failed to mention why you've requested me. So why have you?" Catalena inquired, cutting straight to the chase.

He broke out into a grin, throwing himself off of the cabinet to plant his feet firmly against the floor. Ling crossed his arms over his chest, looking official, "Word around this country is that you're the person someone like me would want to find if they're hungry for some information…"

"Someone like you? What would that mean?"

While his retainers guarded the doorway and Cain remained asleep in his strapped chair, Ling replied, "The reason why I'm even in this country is because the thing I'm searching for sets me apart from the normal individual," Ling paused, letting Catalena soak his words in, "can you guess what it is?"

Did he really want her to guess? Catalena didn't like playing around. It was so unprofessional. Information brokers were the ones who danced around their employers, not vice versa. It was reprimanding.

Besides, she could go through a million and six things that a person desires.

"…No. My job is to find information you need, and it doesn't exactly work if you don't know what is it you want."

"Okay, okay! I see you don't like wasting time~" Ling chimed, holding his hands up. Still he waited a few more seconds before adding, "You ready yet? It's the Philosopher's Stone. What information can you offer?"

Her body took the full brunt of being unprepared for that sort of question. The Philosopher's Stone! Now that was interesting. Just a few hours ago she was telling Cain she didn't know much about it, as it seemed unrealistic. The only thing she was sure of it was that it brought homunculi to life, but the idea of it being able to bypass Equivalent Exchange was blasphemous to her.

Wishful thinking.

And yet, here was a client before her, depending on her skill to find information on the object.

As an esteemed information broker, she felt obligated to unlock the secrets that hid it. So inwardly, her decision was already made before he had even requested anything.

Catalena sighed, causing Ling to shift uncomfortably—anticipating another dead end to his lengthy search, "…Sorry. I don't know anything about the Philosopher's Stone, truly. People don't usually ask about it, so it never crossed my mind as something vital."

"…Oh…" Ling's demeanor immediately shifted, suiting the defeated look that now took place on his face.

"…But, " she sounded, to Ling's approval, "…Since this has been a pretty popular topic lately, I think I can find out about it for you." Catalena threw a glance over her shoulder at unconscious Cain, who was still lazing off, "…I mean, if you aren't forcing me or anything. Coerce is so unprofessional."

Ling remained still and silent as seconds sprinted by. The feeling of hope took over his depression, and he beamed, "Really? So you'll help me? That's so kind of you! I'm—"

"Please. Kindness is not a factor in business. It's nothing at all personal." Catalena interrupted, stating her seriousness in the matters of 'business'. To let emotions in the way of business was also blasphemous to her. In fact, she killed two birds with one stone in this one predicament. She 'saved' Cain (He didn't exactly look like he need saving) and received another job (Which she enjoyed) in one ultimate episode.

So to speak, if Cain was kidnapped and merely required saving, she would look past it, as it wouldn't benefit her (In her case she assumed Cain was mature enough to deal with his own problems).

"Alright, whatever you say!" Ling cried happily, his own emotions spurring on the brighter side of the rainbow. He drew closer to her, smiling appreciatively, "What do you want me to do?"

He stared back at him, a little wide-eyed, but then moved her face away, "You can just sit back and do nothing. This must be your first time dealing with people like me. I haven't once met someone as humble as you, Ling Yao." **[1]**

Ling took a step back, "Really? It's that easy? I love Amestris this much more now~" He gestured a distance between his two index fingers, "So when will I get this information?"

Catalena turned her back on him, beginning to untie the bindings on Cain's chair. "Give me a few days. If you need to see me, I'll be at the Devil's Nest." Once the ropes lay loosely on the ground, Catalena grasped one of Cain's limp arms and draped it over her shoulder, bringing the both of them to a somewhat standing position. Her attention re-focused on the Xingese man dancing in front of her, "Where can I contact you?"

Ling stopped his happy dance, replying nonchalantly, "Oh~ Don't worry, I'll be keeping a close eye on both of you~" He spoke mischievously, and in that same moment, the two henchmen at the door made their presences known.

With Cain still breathing on her neck, Catalena's brows furrowed and she mustered a conclusion to the little meeting, "…Alright. Well with this all settled, I guess I'll be seeing you in a while, Mr. Ling Yao."

"I'll be looking forward to it, Catalena. You've just made me the happiest person ever."

The two bodyguards removed their selves from the doorway, allowing Catalena passage through. The woman stepped out into the night, dragging herself and the unconscious body of Cain across the dirt ground.

Even though she felt the need to maim him for getting himself dragged into the mess and then ending up useless (And sort of a hindrance) towards the closing, Catalena need Cain alive to help in her search for precious information of the Philosopher's Stone.

Speaking of the illustrious stone, had the reason behind why the innocent Xingese man ever bothered her? Well, not really. Catalena's job was only to find out about the Stone, and that was all. Did she ask a man why he needed information on a particular person? Never. She could already assume the unimaginable, and be fairly accurate.

But when it came to the Philosopher's Stone, or in this case, Ling Yao, she could expect the unexpected.

Man, did she had a load of crap to deal with the following week…

(**A few days later)**

**.**

**.**

**.**

His possessions filed out the door, as orderly as possible. Even Bido, being the short and clumsy lizard chimera he was, followed in suit behind Roa's mass figure as elegantly as his clawed feet could manage him.

Scratch that, the little midget just fell over.

Greed chuckled, observing Bido's recovery via crawling on all fours through the pub doorway.

Once they were gone he found himself lying idly on a lavish red couch, staring mindlessly at nothing. Days usually did go by this; Greed would watch his possessions leave to scour through daily routes (Provided by Catalena), and then he would spend half of the afternoon bathing in self-indulgence.

He was mildly content with that, since his greedy nature only desired to actually possess money, a place, power, and minions.

Greed's purple slit eyes carefully removed themselves from the paint of the ceiling towards a stairway across the room. His expressionless face harbored a twisted looking smirk now.

All he needed was a woman…

Luckily for him, there was one locking herself away in her room, and that room provided easy access for the homunculus. Speaking of which, as he leisurely carried himself along the stairs and then strolled through the hallway carefree, the question of why Catalena had holed herself up in that dusty old room for days now intrigued him.

It had been 5 days since the eviction notice…and it didn't appeal to him that she had untangled herself from that little conflict as of yet.

Maybe if he was lucky, she'd have to live as a fugitive like him, and they'd have to spend loads of time together.

Greed mused at the thought as he brought the back of his left hand against the wooden surface of her room door, knocking gently.

There wasn't an answer, and before Greed granted himself free entry, he cautiously cast a glance to another door several feet along the hallway.

"The brat's not here, either…"

Erasing the ill thoughts of the raven-haired young military officer, he wrenched the doorknob and opened the door.

He came upon a dimly lit room with tens of paper thrown across the floor, bundled up or flatly laying there. In the back of the small bedroom was a figure, with towers of books lying on either side of her. The woman herself was too absorbed with her work; she didn't even cast a glance at him.

Greed frowned. Well this wasn't going well…she didn't even look at him!

Papers crunched beneath his shoes as he traipsed through, noticing the bed looking untouched. Had she gone days without sleeping?

He was now at the desk, close enough that his purple eyes could read the fine print of the papers Catalena was reading, and close enough he could even catch the label of RESTRICTED stamped over it.

Leaning over and placing one hand on the desk to gaze more intently, he whistled, "Whoa. Just what does kitten do in her time?"

"I could ask the same to you." Catalena muttered, gray eyes moving from left to right in constant motion.

He leered in closer, unintentionally breathing down her neck as he read along with her, "My minions are out on a date together, kitten. I'm home alone with nothing to do." Out of his peripheral vision, he noticed Catalena's shoulder tense up, then relax, "…Hey, if you aren't busy, what do you say…"

Excluding Greed's rather seductive tone, the room was silent, so he stopped once he heard Catalena chuckle. "2 days, right? Since the eviction notice? Guess what amount of work Cain has done. He's going to get into loads of trouble, and I told him I'd take care of it, so I will."

Greed fell silent. The subject of the other male brat annoyed him. It was bad enough he was living in his pub, now he was stealing his woman away from him. And to Greed, this girl was _much _more interesting than the spineless ones he usually had by his side. She was elusive too, which meant he had to work to get her in his hands. What a fun game that would be, he thought.

"…So what does reading about the Fifth Laboratory have to do with innocent old men?" Greed referred to the title of the classified papers Catalena was reading, which he assumed she received from the help of Cain. Guess that boy wasn't a dog of the military after all.

"Interesting you would call him innocent. Mr. Warner just so happens to be a former scientist stationed there."

"Ooh. Scientists are sneaky." Greed purred, leaning even closer to the woman discretely.

Seemingly ignorant of his impeding figure or truly unaware of it, Catalena dug her hands through another set of papers, pulling out one with the picture of a middle-aged looking man on it. She pointed to the picture bio, "He's been working with the military for about twelve years as a research scientist. Turns out he's a pretty respected guy, being the apprentice of a State Alchemist…"

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm. I'm beginning to wonder what made him to be the hermit he is today. Oh, look here!" Catalena pointed to his martial status, "He was married! Hm, but it looks like his wife has been dead for four years now. Maybe that's why he's undergone a mental and physical breakdown."

Catalena smiled spitefully at the thought. The sleazy old man was much more interesting than she ever would have imagined! Who would've known he had dabbled in dark things like…

"Sounds like a dramatic romance story."

Catalena smiled at the homunculus' comment, "…I thought it was more of a suspenseful one. Did you know what the Fifth Laboratory was used for? They created Philosopher's Stones there using prisoners from Central Prison and from the Ishval Civil War. Joseph Warner was one of the many scientists required to do this…but the whole operation has been shut down for a while now."

The point Catalena was slowly going for finally hit Greed, and his back slowly straightened at the realization of it, "Ohhh! Now I get it. Interesting. This old man might have a Philosopher's Stone is what you're saying, right? That's a lot of work you've gotten done in three days. So, do you have a plan?"

Catalena turned her torso in her seat so that she could face Greed. For once, she looked happy, like a child who had been praised, "…I think I can work everything out. On occasion when Bido and I stalk Warner's address—he's usually inside his house all day. But on Thursdays—which is today—he goes out for a while all day and then returns home at midnight. We found about his schedule from local residents."

Greed grinned, the definition of malice defined from his features, "So you're finally going to kill him, am I right? Ha! Hey kitten, can I come along? I've been bored stuck in this pub all week!"

Her facial features immediately went deadpan, "Absolutely not. I simply won't allow your well-being to be compromised."

Greed also shared the same look of deadpan-ness, except he was also disappointed, "…Y'know, you remind me of a little kid named Pride…"

"Is that your homunculus brother?" Catalena inquired him, but then immediately discarded the question, as the thought of Ling Yao popped in her mind, "Never mind. Hey, how were you created anyway? Are you truly created just with the help of a Philosopher's Stone?"

"Huh? Well…sort of. I guess you can summarize it by saying we're created by human transmutation, except that a Stone is involved." Greed watched her expectantly. She just stood there, lost in thought. "…Why do you ask?"

For a moment she didn't register his lean figure standing in front of her, but then there he was, and she smiled to disguise her vulnerability, "Nothing. I was just wondering."

With confidence she shuffled past the homunculus, who eyed her as she closed in on the exit. Greed suspected she was about to finish this deal with the old man once and for all, and he only envied that she was capable of slipping through her problems like that. Since, he himself could not sever from his own binds.

Donning her brown alchemist gloves as she waited in the doorway, Catalena faced Greed again. There was an odd feeling emanating itself in the distance between the two. It was like a thousand words that were left unsaid.

To make the amount less than that, Catalena voiced, "So I guess I'll see you later then. I'll be home late like before." Greed felt something tingly from her current expression, which was usually indifferent and uncaring, now had a new, unfamiliar visage about it.

Greed remained stoic.

Predicting that he was going to remain that way, Catalena left the room. Regretfully on Greed's perspective, by the time he figured out that he should have said _something_ she was already gone. He could probably chase her out of the room but that would be rather cheesy.

He'd rather take his chances and wait until she came back.

Staring at the empty doorway, Greed's face met his palm. He did misinterpret everything.

There was _something_ Catalena was scared of, and that was why she looked at him that way. That would explain the thousand unsaid words between them, but he failed to notice it.

What could she be scared of?

Maybe she impacted him more than he thought.

**.**

**.**

**.**

She loved calling people at sunset. In fact, she stalled her tracks to Warner's house just so she could enter the phone booth at exactly sundown. Cain would still be in his office and she would be able to contact him. To Cain's chagrin, it would be the exact time he would be leaving work, and at her sudden call he would have to scramble.

Another laugh she could add to the pile.

Punching the numbers in and contacting Cain's superior officer, she was directed to her childhood friend,

~"Hello? Catalena?"

"Hey. You're about to leave work, right?"

~"Hm? Oh, yeah. Hey, what's the big idea calling me right when I'm about to leave work, you dumbass. You know when I get off."

She chuckled on her end and said into the phone, "I'm fixing to get rid of a thorn that's been in my side for a week now. Just thought I'd let you know."

~"You have a splinter? It's not going to hurt when you pull it out? Will you be okay?"

"…"

~"Hello? Hello? Cat? HEY. You still there? IS IT GOING TO BE ALRIGHT?"

"Calm down," she hissed, brows furrowing at the sudden migraine, "You'll see me come home."

There was a relieved sigh from the other end, ~"Thank you. I can sleep a little better at night despite that there's a monster at the other end of the hallway."

"Greed's a good person. Get to know him. Let him buy you a drink."

~"The last thing I would do is drink something that bastard offered me. It was probably spiked and I would wake up strapped to a railroad track."

"Silly Cain, that only happens in black and white motion picture."

~"Who's to say life isn't some fucked up motion picture movie?"

Annoyed by his childish stubbornness, Catalena sternly chastised him, "Enough of that. I'm done talking with you."

~"Oh wait, wait, I'm sorry!"

She hung up.

By the time she left the phone booth, the sun was almost gone. This nightmare was almost over.

She couldn't believe she would actually be scared of a man she thought herself superior to. She guessed innocence was misleading.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Fifth Element, the Red Stone, or the Celestial Stone, was an infinitely powerful construct used by alchemists to amplify their abilities.

There was a chance this Joseph Warner man had one.

If he was able to create things out of thin air with the help of such an object, then she had reason to fear him. He bypassed her alchemical ability with the help of the stone. She was outmatched, and there was a chance she could die.

"That's right," Catalena muttered, pressing one of her gloved hands to the knob of the door.

She stared down at it wistfully, before the circular design on her gloves glowed with an intense blue aura. Before her melancholy gray eyes, the surface of the knob peeled away like paper, deconstructed into nothingness.

She slipped her wrist through, pushing the door open as quietly as she could manage.

"…It's every man for their self, Warner."

She was no alchemical genius, in her opinion not dedicated enough to the work of alchemy to become a State Alchemist. She did not want to be chained up like a dog of the military; besides, she had Cain to fill that spot for her.

All she had to prove alchemical prowess were the arrays designed on her gloves. The right allowed simple deconstruction (Depending on the amount of the material transmuted, can she disrupt the balance of the flow of the object and make it rebound [Much like Scar's destructive alchemy] in her desired amount), and the left allowed reconstruction. Press both hands to a mangled object, and it should sum up to simple transmutation.

She leaned on the right hand, destruction, when the situation seemed suitable.

Closing the door behind her person, the first room she entered looked…well, to be frank, disastrous.

"Did it rain in here?" Catalena murmured to herself, the soles of her shoes feeling something sticky beneath them. That was when she realized it was blood.

Eying it curiously, she knelt down, running a finger across.

It was cold, but still wet, so the cause of it had been earlier that day.

The whole room was similar to her office, papers, drawers, everything scattered along the floor mindlessly. The only thing _she_ was missing was the claw marks and splattered blood on the walls and floor.

Reaching an alternative entryway in her search for the senile old man, there were two stairwells, one leading upstairs and the other reaching downstairs.

She went upstairs. _Save_ _the best for last_, she thought.

That bedroom she reached was the most morbid thing she'd ever seen.

There was a large alchemical symbol drawn along the circumference of the room, a design that she hadn't seen before. In the middle of it, was a pool of blood that smeared all along the wood floors. Bottles and measuring items were gather endlessly in corners of the room. Blood soaked rags and sheets were piled on the old bed. And she swore she saw a rat just dash into the closet.

Geez, where were the landlords of this creepy apartment?

Catalena stepped over to the alchemy circle, trying to configure what type it was. It wasn't the normal alchemy symbol, obviously. So what was it…?

"…An array? No…it's just been used. The temperature of the blood is the same as the one downstairs…it's…"

The sound of a door creaking open caught her attention, and she hurdled herself further away from the door to the backside of the room, ready to react to any situation.

Okay…maybe not this situation.

Red energy crackled from the wall, and a large spear protruded from the blood-splatter drywall, spearing towards her.

She leapt out of the way, once out of its range, pressed her right hand against its surface and then broke down the compounds of it into dust in a matter of seconds. It created a dry powdery substance of dust, lead, and drywall drifting through the air, which clouded her vision. Catalena covered her mouth with her arm, squinting her eyes to find out what just happened.

"I should've known this wouldn't have been easy…you're too smart to just run away, Miss Artenie…"

"Warner?" Catalena coughed, waving her free hand through the air to scatter the remnants of particles.

The haze subsided, and she finally took sight of the antagonist of her bad week.

"You should really learn to stop being so nosy…"

He was dressed in rather formal attire, a vest over an old-looking dress shirt and black slacks. The clothes looked too big for him, like he had lost weight or something.

Hell even his creepy old middle-aged face looked gaunt.

…But what _really _unnerved Catalena was the red object glowing within his fingers.

Her gray eyes were as wide as saucers as her fears came true. So he really _did _have a Philosopher's Stone!

"…What…have you done?" Catalena inquired, trying to remain calm in the midst of her inner turmoil.

Warner grinned, revealing crooked, yellow teeth as he seethed, "This? This? On the floor? This is the future, Miss Artenie! The truth is drawn all over my walls and floor around you!" He cackled and then held up the Red Stone, his grin turning into a smirk, "And this…is the myth that said it all."

"…"

"The unbelievable truth, the unreachable goal—this—THIS is the Philosopher's Stone! With it, I can not only create whatever I desire, but I can also reverse DEATH ITSELF!"

"…You're crazy," Catalena muttered, too low for him to hear over his ranting.

Warner, in all his senile glory, took a step forward, gesturing to the symbol drawn out on the floor, "Look in front of you. That, is none other than a human transmutation circle."

Human transmutation circle?

Oh God, this guy is beyond senile…

"Do you know about human transmutation, Miss Artenie?"

He could see the scowl that took place on her face. Her expression read nothing but discord, "It can never be done."

"LIES. ALL OF IT." Warner pointed to his body, thrusting all of his limbs, to show Catalena that they were perfectly fine, "Human transmutation _can _be fulfilled. All it requires is the right ingredients. Alchemists who perform human transmutation fail, because there is nothing that can rival the value of a human soul. As a result, people who perform human transmutation never come out unscathed, and to add to the hubris, the one transmuted comes out to be something that isn't even human."

"And you came out scott-free because…"

Warner raised his left hand, the one that didn't hold the stone, "I have the Philosopher's Stone, Miss Artenie. With it, I can bypass the Law of Equivalent Exchange. _With it_, I have breathed life into my dear old Christine."

The mention of his wife made Catalena's knees buckle. Did he really bring her back to life? Impossible! Unrealistic! There is just no way!

"She's not here right now. She's in the basement. Now I'm going to dispose of you quietly so you don't disturb her rest. I just created her this morning, after all…"

"Right…" Catalena humorlessly chuckled, perspiration forming above her brow. "That explains the blood…"

"Her body isn't perfect, I'll admit…but she thinks and speaks as perfect as any human being could. In fact…" Joseph took another step forward, his shoe becoming soaked with the puddle of blood, "…I could use your body and bind her soul to it."

Catalena stood up straight now, the feeling of fear completely unknown to her. Now she stood with poise, and with a determination so strong it was almost unfathomable.

This guy was just a selfish old man who could create shit out of thin air. So, what of it? When you threaten me I'm allowed to kill you.

"I don't plan on surrendering my body to anyone." Catalena pushed a nightstand in front of her transmuting it with her destructive alchemy until it tipped on the edge of Rebound, and then launched it with her feet at Warner.

_Not even Greed, _she mused.

The drawers that slid across the floor surprised him, and he transmuted a wall of stone to shield him. As it contacted the wall, the Rebound detonated, and the nightstand exploded into shards of wood and dust.

Warner peeked his head over to see where Catalena was, but she had already darted behind him, pressing her right hand against his left arm. The old man craned his neck to gaze horrified at the feat of his arm becoming deconstructed in the blue hues, and pulled away just as the Rebound was inflicted.

Catalena skidded out of the way; Warner used his Stone to move the wall he transmuted earlier to separate the two.

There was a bruise on her left arm, but her legs brought her to the other side of Warner, smiling at the fact that _his_ left arm was now hanging limply off his torso. With blood dripping off the sleeve of his dress shirt, he hissed at her, and then the familiar red energy of the Philosopher's Stone being used engulfed him.

The power of the transmutation blew wind in her direction; she shielded her face, slowly edging towards the door. No, she wasn't going to escape, but she had the impression that she was going to need cover. Damn it, she _really _hoped the neighbors weren't calling the military right now because of the noise.

Carrying herself on the outside of the bedroom, her face peeked over the lining of the doorway, and immediately widened once they registered what they saw.

Warner now had a mounted gun in the middle of the room, and he was frantically maneuvering it with one arm. The arm that was supposed to hold the Stone, so if he was using the gun then…

"Do you see what the Stone is capable of? Think of all heights we can strive for with them!" She heard the mechanics of the gun operate, and promptly the bullets started firing in her direction. She had to duck and roll to another part of the wall, the bullets shredding through the barrier she was just pressing herself against.

"Damn it!" Catalena cursed. He was shooting all along the walls. She kept ducking and rolling until she hit the stairwell.

"Where are you running to? You've made the situation a lot worse, dismembering my arm like that! Don't worry; I'll fix the both of us up once you're lying unconscious in a pool of your own blood!" Warner's voice came from the hallway. He was following her. Catalena shuffled down the stairwell. Throughout all the action, she had a plan.

The bullets came nonstop; they pierced the drywall and ricocheted in spontaneous motion. She hadn't gotten nicked yet, but she as sure her time was going to come soon. Her alchemy was much better in close combat, but she wasn't going to charge headlong into a rain of gunfire.

Catalena waited at the foot of the stairwell, observing the upper level. She could still see the consecutive shots barrage the wall, and they were slowly turning as Warner approached the staircase.

"Did you run into the living room? Good luck hiding in there!"

Catalena smirked.

Got you.

Warner turned the corner, his machine gun pointed at her current position of peering over the wall, "There you are~"

Before she could put her plan into action, the stream of fire struck her side, causing her to retreat further along the wall. Catalena held her pounding side that was riddled with bullets. She felt the right side of her body falling apart.

As if some angel was watching over her, the gunfire finally ceased.

"Oh, boo! I just ran out of ammo!"

Catalena prayed silently.

With her right arm, she slowly pressed her hand against the wall behind her. Her weakened right torso impaired it, but she was able to keep her hand steady in order to disrupt the flow of energy through the building.

She disrupted the flow all the way to the beams of the staircase.

"Got my gun all ready and now Ima shoot you~!" His voice became louder as he descended from the stairs.

Milliseconds passed, and her card had already been played.

Warner had already triggered the trap.

With the structure of the staircase weakened by Catalena's influence, the steps Warner was standing on shook under his and the gun's weight. Confused and panicked by the instability, he cried out, "W-what's going on? What did you do?" He dropped the gun during the confusion of the stair's impeding destruction and watched in fear as it hurdled down the steps. He grabbed onto the iron railing with his right arm and held on as tightly as he could.

Catalena, however wounded as she was from the gunfire, dragged herself to the fallen machine gun.

Warner's mouth gaped frantically as he watched her set the gun up properly.

Catalena's breaths came out slow and steady, as if she was trying to calm herself to remain conscious. She slowly aimed the barrel of the rifle at Warner and looked stoic.

The old man saw his life flash before his eyes when she smirked triumphantly. Her image became distorted as pieces of the stairs began caving in, falling down into the basement below them.

"I told you not to make an enemy of me. But you didn't listen, did you?" Catalena caressed the trigger of the gun carefully.

"…"

"You'll be joining your wife, soon…"

She pulled the trigger.

In an instant his body became victim to the spray of the machine gun fire, his blood painted his walls with the 'truth' he spoke of, and then was promptly buried under all of the lies along with his crappy stairwell.

The whole house shook under the sudden outcome, the walls around the fallen staircase looked about to fall in.

_This whole apartment was about to fall apart_, she thought. And just because the whole structure of it weight heavily on the stairwell. Another miscalculation on her part.

Catalena threw the gun on the ground, falling to her knees to hug her sides. She felt blood wash up her body, and she coughed it on the floor in front of her.

"Damn it…I really wish I let Greed come with me…he would've killed this guy so easily…"

Catalena smiled at the thought of the homunculus.

"Funny he would be the last thing I'm thinking of in my final moments…"

Still pressing her hands against her bleeding side, she fell over, curling slightly in order to impede the blood flow. Debris from the ceiling above her began falling as the apartment was about to collapse. She stared blindly at the blood-soaked floor.

_Sorry Cain. I guess I won't be seeing you at home. You always said my arrogance would get the best of me._

_Bye Greed. Don't let Cain kill himself just to see me, all right?_

_And DON'T you dare die yourself, either…_

**.**

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><p><strong>.<strong>

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"I have to thank you for everything you've done, human.

Killing that ugly old geezer was the best thing anyone's ever done for me, even though I've only been alive for fifteen hours.

You're dying, aren't you?

Well, I'm dying too…this body…is falling apart.

…Other humans are coming…you're going to be in a lot of trouble if they find out who you are…

…So from now on, this body…will also be mine.

_I feel so enthusiastic at the thought of it."_

**.**

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><p><strong>[1] – <strong>Of course it is just a ruse. Ling is pretty arrogant, he's always throwing his title around like it's no big deal. B[

**A/N: **So much fun with the end of this chapter! This idea has been tugging on me for quite a while now. Anyway, so Catalena's alchemy is similar to Scar's. She has arrays woven on her gloves, and they disrupt the flow of energy within objects, causing an alchemical Rebound. Depending on the amount disrupted, influences the power of the Rebound. It's the Rebound that does the destruction. And of course, with her reconstructive array she can reconstruct materials into a new form of that material as long as it has the same compounds.

Confusing?

Maybe so~

Fusosososo~

Crazy Warner was supposed to have a sort of Gatling gun thing. I don't remember what Cornello had, but I DO know the crazy old bat made a gun or something to use against Ed.

ANYWAYS. REVIEW. THANK YOU AND GOOD DAY.

By the way, I do not know when I will post my newest story, but it should be soon, and the update process should alternate with this story's every Sunday. Information on bottom of profile, and a picture of that OC and my others will be on top of profile. See you later, my loved readers.


	5. Mine

**Atama****Ga****Kuru****Teru:**Thank you so much~ And no problem! I really enjoyed it, so. I don't particularly have a favorite Hetalia character (All of them are so awesome) but my FAVEFAVES consist of America, Russia, England, Spain, and South Korea.

**Jayfish:**For some reason after reading your review I laughed really hard. And I don't usually laugh out of term. XD Thank you for reviewing!

_**A/N:** I honestly think I screwed up the last chapter; it was such an important chapter too! It moved too fast, but I never intended it to do so. When I type, sometimes I stray from the natural flow of the story I guess. Just to point some things out, it isn't LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, QUI~ Greed and Catalena have known one another for half a year already, and just recently has Greed been feeling 'interested' in her. _

_And interested does not imply love in any way. For all you know, Greed probably just wants to steal Catalena's V-card. (That is, if she is currently a virgin, kukuku~)_

_My apologies._

That new Ling x OC story I've promised was already published. Please check it out if you were anticipating it; please read and review and tell me your thoughts.

**Disclaimer:**I do not own FMA or FMA Brotherhood. If I did, Greed would get his own theme song, but I think I would let Ling sing it for him.

BECAUSE HE HAS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL HOLY SHIT YES, YES. GOOGLE/BING IT, NAO. Ling's theme, SHAME ON ME FOR NEVER LISTENING TO IT UNTIL NOW. Not that I listen to Japanese music, usually. I only have FMA and DRRR! songs.

"Rain", "Period", "Again", and "Scandal" are AWESOME. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Rain, because I like watching my favorite characters become drenched in angst.

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><p><strong><em>Rapacious<em>**

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_| It is only when that certain person is gone, do you realize your true emotions for them. |_

**Chapter 5**

Mine

**.**

There are two roads.

In my endless struggle, one leads to a mass of thousands of souls screaming and wailing. They are waiting for me to add myself to the infinite abyss.

The other lead to an impenetrable darkness, and it is quiet there.

It felt right, so I walked the quiet road.

Since that point I've been feeling like there is someone—some _thing _positioning itself right beside me as I travel my consciousness.

But when I open my mouth to speak to it, that voice isn't mine anymore.

**.**

**.**

**.**

He wasn't a househusband. Hell, he wasn't even engaged. He obviously wasn't labeled as compassionate, either. So why had he stared out all night into space, avoiding sleep, and waiting anxiously within that small, empty pub?

Despite that he was a homunculus and didn't need to sleep, what was this tugging feeling inside of him?

Greed began to believe that his immortal life was slowly slipping away via boredom.

The lean man sprung himself from the couch, casually slipping his hands into his black pants before traipsing down a hallway leading to several bedrooms. Even though his body did not require sleep, sleep seemed the best way to escape time at the moment (Even if it was afternoon and everyone else were scheduled on their individual routes).

His personal quarters were the first destination, but as he neared a certain familiar doorway, Greed's purple optics eyed it expectantly. He was waiting for something to spring out of it, appeasing the emptiness in his chest.

Casting a glance over his shoulder to another door at the end of the hallway, Greed's nimble hands clasped the body of the doorknob before turning it eagerly.

He did not expect this, but naturally he was ecstatic.

Perceiving the reminiscent figure of the woman, Greed grinned and sneered teasingly, shark-like canines protruding, "Kitten~ I didn't know you came back. Did you sneak through the window hoping I wouldn't punish you for coming home late?"

At the sound of his voice, the figure tensed up a bit. Catalena kept her back facing him, and appeared to be trying to make some sort of decision before responding. In what seemed like an eternity to Greed, the brunette finally turned around, her gray eyes unseen because they were shut in a sly expression. Not to mention she also had a benign smile on her face.

"Not at all! Did you miss me?"

Greed's lips slowly parted, on account of her uncharacteristic response.

What? Did he hear her right?

Plugging his finger into his ear to make precautions, Greed then cleared his throat, pushing Catalena a little further down the edge, "Maybe. Not really. But I know you did." One of his purple eyes gazed back at her, questioning.

Finally her own gray eyes widened to an almost surprised stare, as if she weren't expecting Greed's choice of appointed words. She decided to play it off by laughing and rubbing the back of her head, but that didn't fool Greed in any way, "Oh, hahaha! What are we, like dating or something?"

The way she held that jittery expression on her face, Greed quickly interpreted her reply as a true inquiry and not sarcasm. What the hell did she do last night? Maybe she was having a hangover or something…

Greed stepped closer to the female, whom he noticed clothes were different. Instead of the usual attire of different hues of blue v-neck sweaters, she was wearing a black blazer over a lighter shade of gray v-neck. Why the sudden change in clothes? The only possible answer was that she just had the best night ever and he wasn't invited.

The male homunculus crossed his arms over his own fur-lined vest, watching her suspiciously, "You're acting kinda funny. Did that old man-scientist beat you out unconscious and then dissected you?"

Catalena stood up straight again, looking almost bewildered.

"…You're acting like a completely different person…" Greed continued.

And he was going to attempt to finish, but he would never calculate in a million years the action that was happening to him right now.

Catalena threw herself at the homunculus, pinning him down to the face of her bed. It shook under the combined force of their weight. Steeling through the aftershock of the moment and finally opening his purple eyes—only _after_ blinking did he acknowledge her gray irises peering hungrily close down at him.

Greed didn't know what the scientist did to Catalena, but he was sort of reveling in it.

**.**

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**.**

_What the hell do you think you're doing? _

I had to shout at it. It completely dismissed my advice and went straight for the kill. I had to berate it, whether or not Greed would get hurt in the process.

**_You said you cared about this guy, right? Well, I'm only getting into the acting a bit more~_**

_Repulsive, sick-minded, zealous—_

**_There are two things wrong with your empty threats, Miss Catalena: One, this Greed person doesn't find me repulsive. Two, calling me zealous is just plain sad. You should know I take that as a compliment._**

_That's because you're in MY body! I'm pretty sure Greed would let any woman crawl all over him. I thought you were genderless, anyway._

**_Mhm~_**

_What…what are you doing? STOP THAT. NOT WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE ME!_

My cries were thus ignored, and no matter how flustered and heavy-hearted I felt when I watched my body 'mindlessly' nose its way to make contact with Greed's smirking lips, there was nothing I could do. I didn't want Greed to think I was this kind of woman, and I certainly would never aim to kiss him in such a disgusting and blunt way.

I secretly wished Greed would see through this thing's facade…

**. . .**

Catalena's body hovered above Greed's relaxing figure. The male homunculus patiently waited for her trail of light kisses to dance from down his collarbone, up his neck, to his anxiously heated lips.

For once in a long time, the unrequited passion locked inside of him, seeped through bit by bit.

Unfortunately, it just wouldn't break completely.

And here's why.

Just as the woman's soft lips traced Greed's jaw line, the clever, grinning homunculus took a hold of her upper arms, temporarily stunning Catalena in a trance of shock. The sudden, almost bone-crushing grip on her arms caused her recent lust-filled face to change into one of disdain. Gray slitted eyes glared from his now blackened arms to his own lavender slitted eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Ding ding ding. And that is the most in-character thing you've said all afternoon." Greed chuckled, propping himself upwards off of the bed while still holding Catalena's arms in his carbon-enforced grip.

For once in its brief life, the other homunculus was not enthusiastic. It abhorred the 'forced into a corner' situation it was in.

Locking sharp eyes with the feminine ones of the thing in front of him, Greed finally sighed, "You're not Catalena. Who are you?" Greed quickly added a second question after seeing himself reflected in its gray slitted eyes, "What are you?"

For a fact the thing he held in his hands was not the Catalena he'd known for half a year. She was not the cynical, sharp-tongued, and critical woman. There was no such thing as no such thing, so if some thing just so happened to squirm its way into Catalena's body, Greed would believe it. He was capable of believing many things, since his own very existence was unbelievable.

Her face remained the same, albeit her eyes had slits in them and looked more sharp and sadistic looking. Her usual flat mouth now was a deadly looking grin, "You two must be close, huh? Or the other option is that I'm a bad actor."

Greed was amused by its choice of words, "Well, obviously the latter."

Without warning the being in front of him wrenched its arms from his tight grip—showing inhuman strength—backed away closer towards the exit. Greed took a step forward, anticipating that it would run away in Catalena's body, but instead it laid a hand on its chest, "I was born yesterday, but the man who named me was terrible with names."

"The old man scientist…so you were created?" His purple eyes widened slightly.

"The tattoo on your hand…that's an Ouroboros mark, isn't it? That means you're a homunculus; an artificially created human whose core is the Philosopher's Stone." Her slender fingers reached above where her left breast would be, "…Since this thing that doesn't beat instead radiates the thoughts and personalities of a thousand souls, does that mean that I am also what you would call a homunculus?"

"Seems like it." Greed wasn't smiling anymore. He did not like the idea of a homunculus in Catalena's body at all. From all he's seen, there seems to be exactly no trace of Catalena's former self within this new homunculus.

He didn't like not having Catalena around him anymore.

"…Why are you using her body?"

"I'll tell you a story since I love telling stories. Once upon a time there was a wife and a husband who lived happily inside an apartment. The woman was a beautiful housewife and the old man was a scientist of the military."

Greed stood still, listening intently to the being's story.

"…One day the wife died, and the scientist fell into despair.

He swore he'd bring her back, and with two red stones he had stolen from a project he resigned from at the State Military, performed Human Transmutation on his dear old wife.

The process had been a success thanks to the Philosopher's Stone, and all because of his zeal for his dead wife.

But it wasn't his wife that would become reborn. Instead, it breathed life into me, and my heart became one of the Philosopher's Stones he harbored."

"Doesn't answer my question."

It chastised him, waving a finger, "Don't be so selfish. Let me tell my side of the story as well."

"Well the name _is_ Greed…"

"The body of his old wife wasn't suited for my soul. So then he tried to find a proper candidate to combine my essence to.

Luckily for him, Catalena here broke into his house to repay him for betraying her. Warner thought he could use her body to place me into, but unfortunately he died. By her hands, ironically. I remember the continuous gunfire and powerful alchemy that took place in that apartment."

"The old man's dead now? Shame." Greed shook his head and made a 'tsk tsk' sound.

It smiled at Greed, agreeing with him, "Oh yes. But she was hurt pretty bad. She would've died had she not willingly gave up her body to me. It was for both of our mutual gain. She would live and I would finally get a body."

"How long are you planning on staying inside there?"

It smiled again, looking crooked as it shrugged it shoulders. Just when he thought its answer was an 'I don't know,' the voice belonging to it that sounded slightly like Catalena's spoke again:

"…The vast amount of feelings—memories—personalities of the dead inside of me—I've been missing out on so much of the world; there's just so much I'm excited about! So many things to sample and witness." The thing in front of him threw its hands in front of itself, fingers writhing as if trying to imagine some unsustainable force within the palm of its hands.

It was trying to emphasize the intensity of the meaning of its words; there truly were so many unthinkable things in this world, the new homunculus wanted to try it all.

Greed vaguely saw a piece of his being reflected through this younger homunculus. "…You're full of vigor."

It giggled, chuckled—hell, he wasn't sure what gender it was. At one end its personality was feminine, but then again it seemed masculine. Despite being in a woman's body, Greed would call it an it for now.

"Funny you would say that. Like I said, the dead guy who created me had an abysmal taste in names; he named me after his dead wife after attempting to create me through her image. I'm inspired by his acts, so I thought I'd go and name myself Zeal." The homunculus called Zeal smiled, holding its hands behind its back as it slowly backed away from Greed with a smile painted on its face.

Greed felt his body move after it. No matter what, he had to keep Catalena's body around. If he didn't know how to get rid of the homunculus inside of her, someone else would.

"So what are you going to do now? Are you going to run away and see the world, like you said?" Greed smirked, "It's an ugly world."

Zeal now stood under the frame of the doorway, still eying Greed with interest, "I'll do anything as long as I'm not sitting around in a cage. See, the definition of zeal is ardor, or fervor for an object, person, or cause if you didn't know…"

"That's a change from kitten's aloof person."

Zeal's gray slitted eyes widened for a split second, and then it looked irritated, "Oh, speaking of the owner of this body…since I'm sharing it with her, I'm obligated to at least take heed of her requests. So I guess I'll be hanging around Dublith for a while."

After the few minutes of recent depression, Greed finally felt his nerves ease up at the confirmation. "She's still alive? She's still inside there?" Taking a rather intimidating appearance Greed closed in on the homunculus, "What would it take for me to get rid of you?"

Zeal watched the muscular arms of Greed blacken as a substance covered it, and his fingers now resembled claws.

"…Would killing you until your Philosopher's Stone runs out help a bit?" He grinned, showing appropriate malice.

Zeal's own smile widened into a grin, and then it fell back to a smile, "You'll have to try and find out yourself, now won't you? Just remember to think of the consequences, and ask yourself if you would stick your hand through _her _body, aiming to kill?"

Greed raised one of his claws in front of him, glancing to and fro from it and the sleek eyes of his opponent.

It was too late for him to make a decision, as Zeal giddily skipped out of the doorway into God-knows-where part of the pub.

Being abruptly pulled back into reality, Greed had to pause and register Zeal's movements before chasing after it.

**. . .**

Zeal sprinted through the narrow hallway of the living quarters of the Devil's Nest. It wanted to get out of the establishment, and now. No, not because Greed was chasing after it. Zeal just found the place to be boring if that other homunculus happened to be the only being there.

As it raced through the long maze of hallways, a blue figure impeding its escape stood with its back facing it. Zeal's dress shoes skidded against the stone floor, making a noise that caused the person in front of it to turn around.

"Catalena?"

Zeal's gray eyes went wide from realization for a second, but then went shifty. With a brand new smirk occupying Catalena's face, Zeal eyed Cain with exuberance.

Cain was wearing his military uniform, about to go to work, but when he turns around his friend who had been missing all day yesterday and this morning was standing in front of him—and smiling too! Cain took a step forward, looking surprised and hopeful, "Are you all right—"

The quick and sudden rise of her left hand caused Cain's mouth to shut. His hazel irises saw the familiar alchemy glove press against the wall beside her. Before he could inquire about it, the outline of the transmutation circle on her gloves went red, and the same color energy crackled from underneath her palm.

The discharge of red essence traveled through the wall towards him, but he couldn't react fast enough to notice the concrete shard of the wall hurdling at him.

Zeal's sadistic nature allowed it to imagine the scene in slow motion: the shocked expression on Cain's face, the electricity-like red energy of the Philosopher's Stone, and the spear it had transmuted shatter into crumbles of rocks as it aimed to impale Cain's head—wait what?

For once the genderless homunculus looked awestruck. A being completely sheathed in black deflected the spike protruding out of the wall with a single stroke of its right hand, saving Cain from becoming skewered.

The human male felt the remnants of the weapon fall on him, and when he turned around he uttered a shout of surprise. From within his military regalia, Cain pulled a gun on the black humanoid figure with large fangs.

The being sighed, shoving a hand in Cain's direction, "Don't bother trying to shoot me with that. It won't even scratch me."

The pistol was slowly lowered as the male muttered, "G…Greed?"

Zeal, from the other side of the hallway, also gazed dumbfounded at the muscular, bulky figure who was the homunculus it was running from. It had to admit, he looked scary.

"W-what the hell are you doing, scaring me like that! And what the FUCK is up with your face?"

Greed looked irritated, shooting Cain a blank stare while still wearing his full Ultimate Shield, "Would you please cut that out? In case you didn't know, I just saved your life."

"Like hell you did! You just scared ten years off of it!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

Zeal thought it'd be best to slip out of the moment while the two of them were arguing. It did, successfully. It took Greed and Cain a minute to realize Catalena's body was no longer standing there.

"What the hell?"

"Great, look at what you did. Now I have to go chase her out in the streets and threaten my own personal safety."

Cain immediately glared at Greed, whose shield was now receding. Once the whole process ended, he came out stylishly with a yawn. "What did you do to her?"

Greed looked annoyed, and not just because he was standing so close to the other male and that said male was accusing him again. Okay, well, maybe just that.

"Look kid, if I had control over the situation, it would be fixed by now."

"Okay smartass, so then what's going on?"

Greed slipped past Cain, walking with his hands in his pant pockets towards the direction Zeal must have escaped from, "Uh, well, you see…let's just say kitten's undergone a split personality disorder."

Cain watched idly as Greed stepped over a few bits of debris, "…She what?"

"…Sort of. She has a split personality now because she's sharing her body with another homunculus." Greed craned his neck to witness Cain's fiery reaction.

"…"

"…"

Cain sighed, fixing his State Military jacket by straightening his collar out. He looked away from Greed, staring at the wall in front of him, "So my closest friend is now something like you."

"…Seems like it."

"I hate homunculi…" Cain sighed again, walking calmly away from Greed.

Bottling up emotions wasn't ever a good thing. Greed pondered just how unnaturally unhealthy were Cain's inner thoughts at the moment. But now, Cain wasn't the one with the homunculus problem. Greed had to find Zeal and contain it until he could figure out how to reverse the process.

Perhaps if he was lucky, he could also find a way to complete immortality as well.

**.**

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**.**

_I'm happy you believed me when I said you wouldn't be a match for him. And just what was the big idea trying to kill Cain like that?_

Within the now lively space of my consciousness, despite the other thousand souls spiraling about, I sat in the center, watching Zeal sprint down the sewage pipelines of the inner Devil's Nest.

"Heh, please. He's just some lovestruck fool; he failed to attack me at the mention of you," it barked back at me through short breaths. "And how was I supposed to know that the human was a friend of yours?"

I paused, watching Zeal now slow its sprint into a casual walk. It would appear it was heading outside.

_By listening to me before you take unnecessary actions. …You're not going to keep running away from Greed, right? This place just so happens to be my—our home._

"Ooh, that's too easy. I'll just lie to him and say I'm the only one who knows how to reverse the human-based homunculus process, and use him until the end." Zeal stopped walking, as it was now nearing a large arched alternate exit.

I could only manage a sigh and a facepalm at this. Zeal's naturally enthusiastic nature was annoying. It always wanted to be doing things; it always wanted to be in a new situation. The only thing I didn't quite get about it was _what _was its object of desire—motivation.

"Wondering about me again, I presume?" Zeal breathed in the hot, dry, afternoon air as it exited the large tunnel.

_Yeah. Besides wanting to see the world and everything, just what are you living for, Zeal? I can't imagine the situation you're in. You were born yesterday, an act of human transmutation. Unlike Greed, who once told me he and his siblings fought for their Father. Whoever that is._

"…" Zeal traipsed farther out into the sun, its sharp eyes perceiving bodily movement further down the alleyway it entered.

_Well? Zeal?_

"…That's a little something I'd like to keep to myself, Cat." Zeal breathed out, feeling tired while it casually walked towards the normal, bustling streets of Dublith.

_Hey…you aren't going to be staying in my body forever, are you?_

There's just no way I would let Zeal share my body for that long. I did appreciate the power that being a homunculus offered, but since whenever had I had to take matters into my own hands besides yesterday? The only reason I gave Zeal my body was because I wanted to live. But I do not plan on living with my body being steered by someone else.

Zeal stopped walking, its gray slitted eyes jumping from the individual faces of passersby. It smiled to itself and grinned, slipping into the fray of civilized movement.

"I'll stay in this body for as long as it takes, Cat," it whispered to me, portraying a face that represented some sort of dark, twisted enthusiasm.

…

"Being me isn't so bad either, Cat. I still have the other Philosopher's Stone Warner used against you. You're practically an alchemical genius now! You should be ecstatic." Zeal dug one of its hands into its black blazer, pulling out a red stone and indulging in it.

_That reminds me…I have a task that relates to that Philosopher's Stone. A client of mine was looking for one, and I—_

"Would you shut up about your needs? I'm tired of doing favors for you. Because of you, I wasn't allowed to sample the joy of killing."

Zeal's demeanor seemed more malicious and intimidating than the usual cheerful.

"This body is now _mine,_ you got that? You should be gracious still, as I'm going to pull you out of the depths of criminal life and into the exciting, dangerous world!"

…

I didn't want to be a part of some big, historical event. All I wanted was to live life the way I wished, hoarding as much money as I possibly could and then relishing in it. I didn't want to be held within the same bounds as the typical human.

I wanted to be different,

but not inhuman.

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><p><strong>AN : **Hopefully was written better than my last chapter. It lacked a spine! D:

Yeah I changed the summary. I didn't like the old one, so I finally sat myself down for like ten minutes thinking up of a new one. And it fit! The realist isn't looking at the big picture even though she proclaims to do so!

I truthfully do not know what else to write here. I guess I'll just see you all next Saturday. Yeah, I'm lacking my happy nature because I GOT SICK. AGAIN. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY.

LIFE ISN'T FAIRRRRRRR

Damn you sore throat! /swallows warm saltwater because it's supposedly an old remedy

**SKYRRRRIIIMMMMMM! ROOOOARRRR. **Yeah, most of you have no idea what I'm talking about. D: Forget I said anything.

Please review!** I LOVE NEW REVIEWERSSS. I'll elope with you!  
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	6. Absence

**A/N:**I'M SO SORRY. I'm a little late on updating because I couldn't get my Internet to work…excuses, excuses. I also didn't really think of any ideas for this chapter beforehand since it's updated on short notice.

For congratulations upon reaching 50 reviews, I thought I'd postpone Bring Me to Life's update to some other time and update this one instead. Let's strive for the goal of 60 reviews this time around, please~? PLEASE?

On a different note… Zeal, Zeal, Zeal…noone seems to like you very much. XD

Character profiles and pictures on my bio. Please look. I also nicknamed Zeal when it's in Catalena's body to Caleal. I dunno. Something like Greedling or Grin I guess. :D

**Disclaimer:**I do not own FMA or FMA Brotherhood. If I did, there would be more RoyAi fluff because Riza and Roy are awesome. Like, seriously, on that episode when Roy makes that very heart throbbing decision of not performing the Human Transmutation and saves Hawkeye…

MY GOD.

DAT SMILE.

SEXAY MUSTANG.

(I'm talking about the car you perverts.)

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><p><em><strong>Rapacious<strong>_

**.**

_| All is one, one is all. |_

**Chapter 6**

Absence

**.**

**Following the previous chapter…**

Zeal fled to the end of the alleyway, its breath heavy and strained. It had been playing cat and mouse with Greed for who knows how long, now. I've lost count and I may have slept a while through it. This thing sure does harbor an insane amount of stamina.

I watched as Zeal's malicious-like eyes gazed absent-mindedly into the wall, still smiling despite all the energy it had exerted, and then back to the being that was pursuing it.

"Got you."

Greed was at the mouth of the alleyway, taking the time to catch his breath as he forced Zeal into a dead end. Leaning forward and propping one of his hands at his waist, he did breathing exercises before taking a few more steps forward.

Zeal had already recovered miraculously, and lacked the wheezing as it spoke in a teasing tone, "Here I am!"

Greed's teeth gritted against one another but still retained his signature grin, "There you are. Please do me a favor and stay put, will you?"

Zeal crossed its arms over my—its chest, giving Greed an amused and disappointed look, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Are you too old for so much running?" It laughed humorlessly before adding, "I guess we already know which one of us would win in a fight."

"Oh shut up. Man you're annoying," Greed glared at the homunculus, raising his left hand and using his powers to sheath it in carbon, "I can't wait until I get rid of you."

Zeal watched Greed's claws protrude from the tips of his fingers. It didn't know about Greed's capabilities, and neither did I. All I knew was that he had some sort of Ultimate Shield, but exactly how 'ultimate' was it?

_I don't like this, Zeal. What happens if he chops off one of your limbs?_

Zeal's expression looked falsely hurt as it replied to me, "You have no faith in me? I'm truly hurt, Cat," Greed's purple irises widened at the sudden third party, "…But honestly speaking, if he were to somehow succeed in maiming one of my fingers, it would just regenerate. So don't worry about your pretty little body."

_Why wouldn't I worry about my body?_

Zeal smirked deviously as it locked a gaze with Greed's stern features, "…I wouldn't concern myself with it. After all, this guy can't lay a finger on me."

"Who are you talking to? Catalena?" The black material covering his left hand suddenly receded. He proceeded towards Zeal in an attempt to restrain it.

Zeal didn't recoil from Greed's impeding figure, only smirked at him as he grabbed a hold of both its shoulders. Leaning over, Greed stared indifferently into the slits of its gray eyes.

I watched with a heavy feeling submerging within my stomach as the image I portrayed of Greed suddenly changed. It seemed as he had Zeal in his grip he had only the intention of trying to seem me in its eyes. But for what reason? I only thought of him trying to obtain me as another one of his possessions, nothing more.

Or were possessions to him something more than what I thought?

After seeing nothing more than his own reflection, Greed released his grip on Zeal, walking away after sounding an irritated and defeated sigh. Zeal watched with a smile still etched on its face as Greed stood only a few feet away, perhaps in thought.

I began to wonder if Zeal had any control of the situation itself.

"What are you thinking?"

With his palm covering his forehead in exasperation, Greed subtlety replied, "How the hell this Zeal thing is going to work. Looks like there's nothing I can do. You can just escape with Kitten's body, I guess."

_He's giving up?_

To both of our surprises, Zeal didn't look too happy about Greed's submission. Its next action surprised me even more.

"You want to know something, Greed? How badly do you want this?"

"What? How badly do I want kitten back?" He laughed after voicing this, and then turned his torso back towards the younger homunculus, "Not so much. But it's so closely within my reach I can't back out now."

A lie. Greed never told lies; it was easy to distinguish them from the truth if they came from his mouth. So the idea of possessions were more than just inanimate objects to him…

Greed was now scowling, as if the lie left a bad taste in his mouth. Zeal didn't interpret this, and instead began talking again, "I'll tell you the truth—I'm not so keen about sharing a body with a human. I don't know any other homunculus but I'm sure they don't suffer from the emotions of humans. It's not like the dead people emotions that boil inside of me—" Zeal pointed a finger to its chest, directed towards me, "—but the owner of this body. She's a pain. What she feels, I feel. So if I happen to break the heart of someone she likes, she's going to feel bad about it and therefore, so will I."

"Kitten?" Greed smiled at the thought, "Likes me~?"

_Vulgar._

"I didn't say that. Don't assume anything, you presumptuous fool." Thanks for the cover up, Zeal. I guess you aren't so bad.

"What are you suggesting?"

"Maybe we can work together. I'll tell you another truth; I have no idea how to reverse the human-based homunculus process. But someone will."

Greed tapped his foot on the ground, in thought again. He seems to be thinking a lot nowadays.

"…I think I may know someone that can help."

The grin I knew all too well from the both of them ushered on their faces. I didn't know what they were plotting, and I didn't want to know.

Hopefully it lead to something beneficial.

**Present time (Approximately a week later)**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Cain buried his head within the pilfered paperwork, his hazel eyes scanning through the print and searching desperately for any piece of vital information.

Damn, he really was digging the hole deeper for himself. If any of his military colleagues found out about the whole homunculus thing—albeit, the fact that he was hiding a criminal woman from the eyes of the military, he was so going to get court-martialed.

Things weren't looking too good for the shady side of Dublith. Even Greed seemed to have gone to hell and back; he came to him for help. To _Cain! _The two males hated each other!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, he supposed. Assuming that Zeal is both of their enemies. But then again, Greed also mentioned that Zeal wanted out of Catalena's body; that was enlightening.

Now he was stealing even more exclusive information from his military quarters, this time on revered alchemists who have experience in human transmutation or Homunculi. In fact, anyone interesting would work. They just needed _someone._

What they needed was a short blonde midget prodigy genius.

"How's it going?"

Cain flinched at the sudden voice emanating from behind him. Papers flew from the desk as his hands recoiled towards where he hid his gun.

Greed took note of this, stepping away from Cain's personal bubble, "Ooh, calm down. It's not like I'm going to violate you or anything."

Once Cain turned his body around to find out it was Greed creeping behind him, he caught his breath and scowled at the man, "Gross. Don't even say that again."

"Say what again?"

"The violate—" Cain went cross-eyed for a second, "…N-never mind." The young man turned back towards the papers, pressing one of his palms to his face as he read.

Greed closed in again, stretching his neck over Cain's hunched figure to stare down at the paperwork, "Alright, so how goes the digging?"

"I actually think I've found someone who can help."

"Ohhh, really~?" Greed hummed, sticking his hands in his pockets as he stared down more intently.

"…Would you not breathe down my neck like that?"

"Just give me what I came here for and I'll be out of your hair. Literally."

Cain sighed, his hands searching for a particular piece of paper. Once the familiar print of 5th Laboratory appeared on it, Greed felt nostalgic. "You know the 5th Laboratory? It was destroyed recently. Rumors say that a blonde-haired boy and a walking suit of armor were the cause of it."

At the mention of the walking suit of armor, Greed's interest was piqued, "A walking suit of armor? Is it as surreal as it sounds?"

"Seriously. Walking suit of armor." Cain flipped through papers again, pulling out one that had a blonde-haired boy on the bio page, "He's the younger brother of this kid: Edward Elric. He's a State Alchemist, enlisted at the age of 12! He and his brother performed Human Transmutation when they were only kids."

Greed indulged in the idea of a walking suit of armor, and the thought of a prodigy genius further enticed him,

"Basically a kid genius? Sounds like what we need. Any idea where they are?"

"No idea. They got deported to a hospital after the 5th Laboratory was destroyed…I could ask around for the Fullmetal Alchemist and that would get me somewhere. But it could take time…" The papers were promptly stacked. Cain would have to sneak them back later.

"Better than nothing. I really have to thank these kids once we meet them, " Greed chuckled as he drew away from Cain, his voice becoming fainter as he became farther away; eventually reaching the exit and leaving Cain in the room by himself, "…And this walking armor kid seems pretty mentionable, too."

Stretching with high hopes occupying his thoughts, Greed shielded a yawn whilst making his way through the Devil's Nest.

"Well…time to break the good news to Kitten."

**.**

**.**

**.**

Staring down from the rooftop he watched for any sign of movement like a hawk would.

As soon as the figure casually stepped out from the tunnel for the third time that week, he attacked.

Zeal's pathway was suddenly hindered by a yellow figure that had sprung from somewhere above. Raising an eyebrow, the homunculus inquired the shifty-eyed being, "Excuse you?"

Within their consciousnesses, Catalena had gasped in sudden realization. Zeal felt the human inside of it struggle for control, but it quickly subdued her willpower.

Ling stood up; a smile adhered onto his face. Accompanied by a wave he greeted the homunculus, "Hey there, long time no see~ Any luck finding out about the Philosopher's Stone?"

By his demeanor, Zeal interpreted that the young man before him had no idea of the current situation; he was only a friend of the owner of this body. The homunculus mustered up a smirk, caressing the idea of crushing yet another human's dreams, "Oh hey, you. Who are you again?"

Ling tilted his head, as if the slanted perspective in which he perceived Catalena would help him in some way. There was without a doubt something peculiar about her, "…Um, you seem different," Zeal was amused at the thought, just as planned, "…Did you cut your hair or something?"

Zeal felt air get sucked out of it, but quickly forgot the feeling, "Well, you're a dumb human. What were you talking about again—was it a Philosopher's Stone or something? Just what would you want with that?" It gave Ling a very incredulous look along with crooked lips.

But Ling's visage was just as incredulous. How could Catalena forget the task he had requested of her and that she had agreed to of her own accord? His nose twitched.

Something wasn't right here…

Zeal didn't give Ling another second to think, as it hastily slipped past him. It had the urge to attack Ling but the Catalena inside of it forbid it from doing so. "Whatever. I've got things to do today."

The sudden grip on its shoulder caused Zeal to plummet backwards towards Ling's figure. Zeal caught its balance before having to trust fall with Ling, and shot him a look of questioning as soon as it stood upwards. "W-wait, don't you remember? I asked you to find out about the Stone for me—it's been like a week already!"

Zeal shook off of Ling's firm grip to snap at him, "I don't know what you're talking about." Zeal's foot stepped in the opposite direction.

"C-Catalena!"

Then the homunculus stopped. The Xingese prince thought she would finally remember and looked hopeful for once. Zeal, however, only scratched its chin while droning, "Ohhhhh. I seem to sometimes forget about the human inside of me."

_Even though she constantly berates you? Yeah right._

"…What are you talking about?"

Zeal turned its torso around, giving Ling a serious and annoyed look, "It's just as obvious as it sounds, human. The Catalena you know isn't here anymore; her body is being occupied by me—Zeal."

Judging from the stretching silence that was between the two, Zeal suspected Ling either didn't believe it or was hopelessly confused. Maybe both. Walking away from the situation seemed the legit choice.

But the kid grabbed its shoulder again, causing Zeal to stagger backwards again. Damn kid loved the shoulders. "W-wait, explain this to me, please. Who are you, 'Zeal', and what do you mean occupying Catalena's body?"

Again Zeal shrugged out of Ling's grip and snapped, "I'm a homunculus—a _homunculus! _I'm an artificially created human using the power of a Philosopher's Stone. That enough information for you? Now beat it kid, you're ruining my style." Zeal began to traipse away from the Xingese prince, towards the near bustling streets of Dublith.

"…Philosopher's Stone? So you're immortal, then?"

Zeal stopped to crane its neck at Ling's idle figure, "…Yeah, pretty much. I'm not sure if there are any other ones like me—besides Greed and all, but it's just whatever."

With that, Zeal left Ling's ambitious entity to stand and wonder.

_That was the client I was talking about…how am I going to make this up to him?_

"You don't. He seemed an annoying little brat anyway; whining about a Philosopher's Stone, feh!" Zeal shook his head in a chastising gesture.

_Well he hadn't paid me yet…so supposedly it won't be a big deal…_

Zeal smiled, disregarding the stares it received from 'talking to itself', "That's the spirit. I'm happy I'm inside your body and not his."

_Ling's too young to have to handle something like this._

"Well said, well said. But I'm only about a week old and I'm handling things quite well. But putting all of that aside, I'm starving. What do you humans eat for fun…?"

As it walked amongst the civilians of Dublith, little did it know it would meet yet another yellowish, bratty child.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Curtis' Meats?" Zeal grimaced, staring at the bold print of the meat shop. "It's not every day you walk around and find a random meat shop nowadays. I'd just go for the all-around super stores."

_Shops like these have the best meat. And I know how to make a good steak. All you have to do is give me control of my body…_

Zeal's lips pursed and then it blew a raspberry, "Pffft, yeah right. I'm not stupid. How many times do I have to tell you that this is _my _body now?"

_As many times as it takes, Zeal._

The homunculus grew silent. It never had steak before, and it seemed very tempting. Catalena waited for the homunculus to make a decision—as patient as patient could be. To both of their chagrin and Zeal's bottom, the door to Curtis' Meats flew open, knocking Zeal square in the face.

"Holy hell!"

_Open your eyes so I can see what just happened, Zeal._

"I would, but I can't see a damn thing right now…" Zeal's hands rubbed its sore eye sockets. The sounds of rapid footsteps and voices motivated it to look up.

"Crap, it's a lady…"

"Brother!"

Blurred vision slowly refocused on the colors red and gray transmuting themselves before Zeal. Zeal lowered its hand, finding two mismatched figures standing before its fallen one.

The most humane thing to do would be to gape at the heap of armor that was kneeling down at you in an attempt to help you up.

Zeal was all too enthusiastic at the idea. Before Alphonse could ask if it was okay, Zeal beamed, "What the—Are you a living piece of armor? Like talking too?"

The short blonde kid looked away for some reason while the suit of armor appeared nervous, stuttering between words, "W-well, I…"

Zeal darted upward, brushing its hands against Alphonse's cold, metal plating. It knocked its fist against the surface of the metal, finding it to be hollow, "There seriously isn't anyone inside there? This has to be some insane feat of alchemy!" Gray slits looked up to the red lights in Alphonse's helmet, and the boy admitted Zeal's eyes unnerved him, "What's your secret?" It purred.

Unknown to Zeal, the other boy was walking away already, and Alphonse watched helplessly as Edward escaped the two, "B-brother…"

Zeal kept a firm grip on Alphonse, "You're a soul bound to this suit of armor, aren't you? So you're immortal, then?"

Two beady red eyes peered down Zeal. Now Zeal couldn't tell what emotion this boy was hiding since his face was a helmet, but it suspected he was astonished, "How could you figure all of that out?"

Zeal smirked, placing a hand on its chest while gazing up at Alphonse's face with pride, "Because I'm no stranger to the secrets of alchemy. You'd be surprised about how much information I store within me."

Now those two sentences caused the blonde haired boy to suddenly spiral back towards the two. He looked enthusiastic and serious as he raised a fist in Zeal's direction, to which it only stared back blankly, "Information? What sort of information!"

"Brother, don't get too hasty…"

Zeal fitted its hands inside its blazer, attention diverting to the shorter of the two 'brothers'. "All sorts of odd things. Homunculi, human transmutation, Philosopher's Stones…" Zeal paused for a moment, thinking over things, "…I _am _an information broker after all." It smirked, "My name is Catalena."

_What the hell are you doing?_

The younger child before it now looked steady and contemplative. As if the sudden outburst on Zeal's account lowered his disposition towards it. However the suit of armor was already convinced, "Brother, did you hear? She knows information about the Philosopher's Stone."

"I heard, Al. But I'm getting this weird feeling in my gut that something's not right here." Edward's golden eyes shared a tight focus with Zeal's own gray ones.

"Maybe you're hungry or something," Zeal joked, "…But still, if it's info on the Stone you're hungering for, I can help." With eyes showing appropriate desire and enthusiasm, Zeal continued, "…All I ask for in return is the secret to binding a soul to a suit of armor."

Alphonse uttered a squeak of some sort, whereas Ed's tone became cold, "Can I ask why you'd want to know that sort of thing?"

Flexing its wrist for emphasis, Zeal chided, "Well, that's my own problem. But if you must know there's someone that I need to get rid of, and I don't really want to kill her."

Catalena already knew Zeal was referring to her.

But that was all Zeal needed to say to get the reaction of Edward stomping away in fury. Alphonse was still there, though, and he was just as surprised at Ed's immediate action.

Zeal glanced from the flowing red cloak of the blonde boy back to the suit of armor that still stood beside it, "…What was that all about? Does that mean it's no deal?"

"Um, I'm sorry Miss Catalena…I think maybe he needs to consider your proposal. You see, we're searching for the Philosopher's Stone, and it's with good reason…I guess Brother just doesn't trust you or something."

Zeal scoffed, "I admit I'm a conniving person. That's what information brokers do," Blinking, Zeal added, "You two boys aren't that old, are you? I don't know your back stories, but in life you're going to have to grow up a little and play with the adults to strive for higher heights."

"…"

"And in your brother's case, it's not really working out…"

A distorted giggle came from the suit of armor, and attracted Zeal's attention. To have Catalena's soul in a suit of armor and to keep this body, or to have Zeal's soul in a suit of armor and allow Catalena to keep her body? Which seemed the more suitable choice?

Of course that all depended if these two boys would agree to its proposal.

Zeal couldn't predict anything from this point, but it was sure it would have this walking, talking suit of armor's vote.

"Look, I'll give you time to think about it. When you're ready to trade, meet me at the Devil's Nest. It'll seem a nasty place at first, but nothing there is nastier compared to me," Zeal grinned, showing sharp teeth. It hadn't disturbed Alphonse, though.

"…I… I'll think about it. My name is Alphonse Elric, by the way. My brother's name is Edward Elric. I hope he'll cool off and consider your offer…I think it'll be really helpful in the future." His armored hand reached his head in some form of salute, and then the suit of armor trotted off. A loud _klang __klang _sounded after each step.

Zeal's expectant gaze trailed after the retreating figure in awe. "Look at that. Greed was right. Impossible is impossible."

Catalena had facepalmed from within their consciousnesses.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The door skidded open, the light from the pub temporarily bled out into the humid night. The artificial light was extinguished as soon as the feminine figure shut the door from behind her. Taking in the smoky, dry air from the Devil's Nest, Zeal felt cozy with its hands tucked within its pockets.

What helped it even more was that Catalena was taking one of those hourly naps. Whatever. As long as she wasn't nagging it, Zeal was happy.

Trudging towards the staircase however, it noticed white fur sticking out from the stairwell. Zeal sighed, immediately finding out who it was, "Any reason as to why you've waited all night for me again, Mr. Greed?"

Then the side perspective of Greed's face appeared, but instead of the usual hopeless, flat look, there was a very mischievous looking grin. "The brat and I found a solution to your body problem. I even got some tasty info myself, actually."

With his own hands tucked comfortably into his pant pockets, Greed trudged out from the base of the stairs, strolling over to a couch and leaned against it. He had earned Zeal's interest with that one sentence, "You what?"

Zealous purple eyes that even Zeal would have been proud of observed it, "Cain found someone who may be able to help with your human-based homunculus process. He even found me a key to complete immortality."

"So who are these people?"

"Edward and Alphonse Elric. One happens to be a child prodigy, and the other a walking suit of armor! Can you believe it? He doesn't have to eat, sleep, or anything!" Greed laughed. "That's a pretty sound deal to me!"

"…"

"All we have to do is wait until Cain finds these two brats and then we can interrogate them…" He now stared at the work of the floor, imagining the entire ordeal in his head. It seemed things would all work out, and the Zeal situation actually benefited him!

Meeting Catalena seemed to be the best thing that ever happened to him. Even if there were bumps along the ride, it would all work out.

"…Edward…and Alphonse Elric…" Zeal repeated the names.

"Yep, that's right. Blonde hair, really short. The other's a suit of armor. Not hard to miss."

Zeal's expression went deadpan as it stared at Greed's ecstatic visage, "…Funny. I just so happened to meet two kids by those exact descriptions earlier today. They had the same names, too."

Greed threw himself from the couch, a demeanor of bewilderment and awe occupying his toned features, "You're kidding!"

Zeal smirked, "Would I ever lie to you?"

"…So you are kidding. Geez, don't get me worked up like that."

"I'm not joking you dumbass. I met them at some meat shop. I even tried to make a deal with them—you know, trade for the secret to soul binding. I gave them the address to here so…if they're interested, we may not have to chase after them at all."

Greed's jaw dropped, revealing shark-like teeth. It was the most prominent of Greed's features in Zeal's opinion. The dropped jaw closed to show that same set of shark-like teeth in a triumphant grin, "Damn, I love you so much right now, Kitten—oh, I mean Zeal. Wait, I take that back; I hate you."

Greed looked slightly flustered after his hasty exchange of words, but Zeal was all too amused. In fact, the younger homunculus couldn't help but tease Greed and reveal its own personal feelings towards him.

Zeal's hand reached out for Greed's face, fingers brushing against his skin. Did Greed like that? Half of him did since it was Kitten's fingers after all. The other half of him didn't not only because it was Zeal, but also because of the words that followed the gesture, "And I despise you as well. I can't wait until the day I see that grin of yours get wiped off of your face. It's because of you…"

Zeal brushed past Greed, shuffling towards the stairs,

"That I can't stand being in this body."

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Führer King Bradley?"

"Yes?"

"My superior officer thought I should reveal to you that classified documents were recently pilfered from the Dublith military sector. Higher ups report that it has to do with the 5th Laboratory…?"

The dark-haired man retained a benign smile as he spoke to the lower ranked officer, even though acts of an extreme crime were just revealed.

"Ah, I see. Does anyone have any leads as to who might have done this?"

"Yes. One of the Captains in the Dublith sector believes that Sergeant Major Cain Ashford may have confiscated the documents. He was recently assigned to help one of our former research scientists from that very same laboratory—however that man—Joseph Warner, was killed in a fire that started in his house about a week ago."

"Coincidence?"

"There was also a woman who was supposedly spotted on the scene, as well. Witnesses also report gunfire and strange sounds coming from the Warner residence that very same night the fire started."

"…I see."

"Um, that is all I have to report, Führer."

"You may leave."

"Thank you, Führer."

The jittery man left the room without a second glance. In truth, not only was the appearance of the one-eyed Führer intimidating, but his demeanor was misleading as well.

Bradley folded his hands in front of him, resting his chin on said hands as he fell deep within thought.

Looks like he'd be taking a trip to Dublith soon.

There was someone else he had to meet there, anyhow.

**.**

**.**

**.**

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><p><strong>AN: **Again, sorry this was updated on a Sunday and not a Saturday!

SO EXCITEMENT, EXCITEMENT, EXCITEMENT! You all can only imagine what will ensue in the next chapter?

/shrugs

Any questions you'd like to ask to my OCs? By the way, I'd love to get your opinion on which of my OCs you like the best. There's a poll on my profile. /Shot for advertising

Again, I also have short character bios that have useless information in them. I may add more later.

AND I'M STILL SICK, WHAT. D:

Let's strive for 60 reviews this time! I'll get to updating Bring Me to Life soon.

**Q&A Q&A Q&A**

See you all next Saturday.


	7. Great Minds Think Alike

**A/N: **I could list a million excuses for you all, but instead I won't.

**DANGER ****THIS ****CHAPTER ****IS ****LONG.** Since I left you hanging for quite a while, I thought the chapter should be long. HOWEVER, it would have actually been longer, since the anime episode this chapter is aqcuainted with is full of awesomeness.

**I ****recommend ****listening ****to ****Wang ****Yi****'****s ****theme: ****Teary ****Edge ****on ****youtube ****whilst ****reading.** It's what gave me the drive to even write this! Look for a black haired girl, blue sparks, long trident-like knives, etc. I think the music matches the tone for the angsty part of this chapter. SERIOUSLY DO IT NAOOO.

**DON'T EVEN SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU'VE OPENED A NEW TAB AND WILL LISTEN TO THAT SONG WHILE YOU READ THIS**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA: Brotherhood. I own only Zeal, Catalena, Cain, and my own ideas and plots. By the way, I am officially auctioning my OCs. Any bids?

* * *

><p><em><strong>Rapacious<strong>_

**.**

_|There's no such thing as no such thing. |_

**Chapter 7**

Great Minds Think Alike

**.**

Something felt different this morning. And it wasn't just because Zeal decided to actually refrain from leaving the Devil's Nest and to share breakfast with Greed and the rest of them. It wasn't because of Catalena's absence, that Cain had to actually clean his own clothes and perhaps his unfamiliarity with the task left his military uniform feeling tighter than usual. No, that can't be it at all (Rather a small portion of it).

The Dublith military division this morning seemed abnormal…darker than the usual dark. By dark, something placed an eerie feeling in the area, and Cain just couldn't place his tongue on it. It tasted bad, like old men, actually.

Don't question how Cain would know what old men taste like. It was just a phase.

The black-haired Sergeant Major fidgeted with the ends of his navy blue jacket, pretending to not notice the eyes of those who normally seemed at ease with him, appeared to detest him at the moment. But why? Had they found out about Catalena already? Well that's preposterous. Catalena wasn't here anymore; Zeal was in her place.

Cain decided to look as steady and serious as he always did, and tried his best to nonchalantly stride into his own squad's office.

Little did he expect a certain authority figure seated where his own superior officer was supposed to be. The latter was nowhere in sight.

"What's this…the Führer?" Cain muttered under his breath. Fear overcame his steeled, calm demeanor once the "cheerfully" shut eye of King Bradley laid directly upon him, eating away at his uneasiness. This old guy wasn't even _looking_at him and Cain still felt like running away and curling into a little ball! Damn Catalena! Damn her and her stupid manipulative-ness! _Why __the __hell __did __I __ever __get __myself __dragged __into __that __stupid __nursery __school __in __the __first __place? __Stupid __mother._

"Ah…Sergeant Major Cain. It's good to finally be able to meet you in person."

Crap.

"Er…Führer…Sir…King Bradley…hello." One of Cain's hands shakily made its way to his forehead in order to usher in a poor salute.

Bradley in all his one-eyed glory chuckled in amusement at Cain, and he leaned over onto the desk before him, finally opening that one eye of his to further frighten Cain. (It didn't matter if it wasn't intentional; it scared Cain even more!), "You seem pretty nervous. Does my presence scare you? After all, I am just an old man in charge of the country. Nothing about me should seem intimidating."

Blinking his hazel eyes and becoming rescued from his trance of shock, Cain stood erect and regained his senses, appropriately focusing on the authority figure seated before him, "Um…I guess you're right. Though your position scares the breath out of me, I'm overreacting…"

As Cain averted his gaze, unknown to him, Führer King Bradley's eye peeled, and he looked mildly threatening.

And as soon as Cain turned back, Bradley looked as happy as ever.

"What is the Führer doing in Dublith? Can I ask that?" The young man immediately went bashful once realizing his etiquette. He was admirably humble Bradley had to admit.

"Oh, some things. One thing in particular. Would you mind helping me with it, Sergeant Major?"

Wait. The Führer wants Cain's _help _with something? So he wasn't aware of his crimes, good.

This was spectacular. If the Führer needed help from him, then Cain was sure to receive a good word later in the future. The only logical answer was to graciously accept such an offer!

Cain smiled, content and appreciative, agreeing, "Of course! I'd be insane if I denied you. What would you have me do, Führer King Bradley?" Oh yes, any suspicious feelings Cain had towards this old man disintegrated. Completely.

"There's a little place I need to investigate…"

**.**

**.**

**.**

That stone seemed so out of place compared to the rickety shingles of the Devil's Nest. It looked _so_perfectly round and smooth, while all these chipped, impaired shingles paled in comparison to such an exquisite rock. The cat-like slits in Zeal's eyes shrunk slightly as she focused on the inanimate object sitting in her palm.

The only right thing to do was to toss the rock into a nearby window, correct? After all, it shamed the overall beauty of this seemingly abandoned pub. With a flick of her wrist, Zeal tossed the rock towards the also abandoned building towering a ways before her.

Crash.

Yeah, no one lives there anyway. She would know, since she secluded herself on the pub's roof whenever she felt awkward around the people in the building below her.

Just recently, she revealed to Greed that Zeal was in fact female—after so many annoyingly placed questions the flirtatious homunculus threw at her (To Catalena's disdain). For three weeks, she would tell the human chimera and Greed she was genderless, because she honestly didn't find herself very feminine or masculine.

Though the fact that Zeal resided in a woman's body and was _resurrected __from _a woman's body was enough of an explanation to her.

In Greed's case—he admittedly accused the homunculus of being male—then laughed at the case of a man being trapped in a woman's body—ate his words once Zeal informed him of her contemplations. Afterwards, Zeal read the scene as awkward, and hurriedly scrambled to the top of the dismantled roof of the Devil's Nest.

_You bored, Zeal?_

The silence became obstructed at the human's voice, but for some reason felt comfortable with Catalena speaking to her. Zeal smirked, resting her chin on her knee as she gazed at the alleyway below her, "I could be doing better things. But I will admit, I enjoy the time spent with your little friend Greed."

The delayed reply of Catalena amused Zeal, so she continued speaking,

"I mean, it's better than what normal humans do. What you all do for fun is painfully dull. I want to do something exciting—and gambling or partying won't cut it for me."

_…Well…I know you simply can't stand being idle. Are you waiting for Greed to cool down?_

"Cool down? Nah, I'm not that interested in your boyfriend, so don't feel so protective." A scoff was heard from the depths of her consciousness, hidden poorly. Zeal smirked again, but it quickly melted into a flat expression, "…At least, not his being. But his presence appeals to me."

_His presence? I don't understand._

The homunculus sighed, watching a lone rat scurry across the barren alleyway, "…I'm not the sin envy—hell, I'm not a sin at all—though I do envy how you humans are able to mingle amongst yourselves and have fun with each other. The thing is, I don't feel that way. I can't share those feelings you humans have with each other. It's _me _who doesn't understand you."

_…_

"What I'm saying is that I think I want to be around _other _homunculi. And the only homunculus presence besides myself is Greed—and a person can only handle so much of him. Whenever I question him about the latter, he shuts up and doesn't speak to me for a while. That's all on the rare occasions that we actually do speak without lashing at one another's throats, of course."

_…I'm amazed. I think that's the most you've ever told me about yourself, Zeal._

There was a hint of bashfulness submerged deep within her humanely hollow being, but Zeal quickly discarded the feeling. The homunculus smirked as prideful as pride could be: arrogant. "Heh. Don't get used to it, Cat." Speaking of the nickname for the owner of the body, Zeal's cat-like eyes peered curiously at a mass figure trotting its way through the secluded alleyway; a figure whose arrival she had eagerly awaited for. Brushing her thumb across her jaw line in satisfaction, the homunculus smirked rather maliciously, "Hmph. And the fact that we won't be sharing this body for too long is one reason."

Like the nickname Catalena usually symbolizes, Zeal pounced.

**...**

"_PSSST. _Hey kid. Over here!"

A suit of armor shifted towards the hidden figure. A stout face framed with oddly pigmented skin studied him. Alphonse felt unsafe—almost threatened by this hooded figure. Nine out of ten times one evades hooded figures, and the ratio of one only pertains to your local holy mother **[1]**.

"Um…why?" The metallic voice of Al didn't instill fear into this man; in fact he looked rather cheerful.

"Are you lost? You should follow me." Half of his body protruded from his position by yet another pathway, and allowed Alphonse to question hideous clawed feet.

"Oh…well, okay."

Though surprised by his response, Bido came hopping over, gesturing one of his scaly hands towards the large, gray figure, "Good, then let's—"

(FACE MEET PALM—I mean fist.)

Once Bido got too close, Alphonse's fist somehow made its way towards his cranium, hitting the human chimera square in the face before propelling him down the alleyway.

Bido didn't even get the chance to scream by the time his face met the pavement.

"O-oh wait! I didn't mean to hit you that hard! It was just impulse!" He held out his hands in front of him, as if trying to calm down the already unconscious little man whom was having trouble breathing at the moment.

Another masculine voice to his right caught the young boy's attention, "Whoa, crap. What do we got here?" Black hair and a prominent nose dressed in a samurai getup caught Alphonse's attention. Though the latter was too occupied concerning himself over Bido's fallen figure to notice the hulking Alphonse.

Another voice—feminine—situated itself behind the male newcomer. This shorthaired blonde immediately caught sight of Alphonse, alarming everyone with an impressed whistle, "I think we just stumbled on a lost suit of armor, Dolcetto." Martel inched toward Alphonse, "Maybe we should take him in."

Once he was sure Bido was still breathing, the dog human chimera faced Alphonse, looking just as interested as Martel was appearing, "Oh, wow. Wasn't a guy in a suit of armor exactly what the boss told us to look out for?"

"Oh…" said suit uttered.

"I think so, Dolcetto. How many times do you find people dressed that tacky anyway? Besides you, of course."

"Shut up! It goes with the sword."

The blonde woman sighed, pressing her hand to her face in exasperation, "I don't even want to know where you got your little cosplay costume."

Dolcetto growled—sounding similarly like a dog, but then focused his attention back on Al. "It was a gift. But forget about that! Our orders were to welcome the armored kid." Dolcetto gestured one of his hands to the latter, "Did you hear that, kid? We'll help you out, so you'd better come with us."

"Because that doesn't sound creepy in the least…" Martel commented, pursing her pronounced lips.

"I didn't ask for your input, dammit!"

Despite the two adults' bickering, Al remained as innocent and thoughtful as possible, fingering where his chin would have been were he human, "Um…but my brother says I shouldn't go with strangers."

The two adults looked surprised, and not just because of the childish, metallic voice that erupted from the suit of armor. Dolcetto was the first to speak, "Strangers…" He shook his head, "Kid, we're your neighborhood watchers! We _beat __up _the strangers! You can trust us." Martel shot her company an unimpressed look.

Being the obedient child he was (To trustworthy figures, that is, and not men dressed in samurai getups), Alphonse graciously denied Dolcetto, "Mm. No thanks. I think I'll stay right here and wait for someone I'm looking for."

While Martel stifled a laugh, Dolcetto grinded his sharp teeth together, "Tsk. Well, whatever, kid; you're coming with us whether you like it or not." Gripping the hilt of his katana, Dolcetto "swiftly" charged Alphonse, and even shouted heroically while doing so.

In Al's eyes, the curved-sword wielding man was pretty slow and clumsy. Once the gleaming blade of his opponent's katana strode dangerously close to him, Alphonse's thickly armored hands clasped around Dolcetto's sword, plucking it right from his grip and towering it high above the human chimera.

"Wha-? Ah, hey! Give that back!" Dolcetto pathetically scratched at Alphonse's armored chest piece, his arms stretching for his samurai sword.

Al remained defiant, turning his back towards sticky Dolcetto again and again to prevent him from hurting Al or himself, "No! I'm not here to fight! And if I give it back to you, you'll just attack me again!"

For once, the great stamina of this dog human chimera halted, and he only growled again while glaring daggers at Alphonse, "Look, kid, we're not going to hurt you or anything! Our boss just wants to see you, so would you _please_be a big boy and come with us? _And __give __me __back __my __sword __too.__"_

Another whistle rung through the air, but when Dolcetto jerked his head back towards Martel, she only shrugged her shoulders. When the sadistic, almost maniacal laughter of a particular somebody shot through his developed ears, a feeling of disdain overwhelmed him.

The three heads faced the woman dangling her legs over a nearby roof: two of dislike and one of accomplishment. Resting her head on one hand while her gray eyes watched the trio, the remnants of her laugh dimmed to giggles, "Hehe. Hey, Alphonse boy, you oughta return ol' Dolcetto's toy sword back. He won't be able to sleep tonight without it."

"Wha...what are _you _doing here, Zeal?" Dolcetto growled as the female homunculus leapt from the rooftop, acquainting herself beside Al and he. For once, his treasured toy sword was forgotten—he and the other chimeras, besides Bido—did not smile upon Zeal's presence. They felt she challenged Greed's authority.

The clacking sound of Zeal's dress shoes against the pavement annoyed Dolcetto's sensitive ears as she replied, confidently, "Well…if you listen carefully enough, our little armor friend here says he was looking for someone. Chances are, any foreign person around these parts is always looking for me. Why? Because you lot are sooooo boring."

While steam appeared to seep through Dolcetto's seams, Alphonse addressed Zeal immediately, "Zeal? I'm sorry! I thought I remember you telling me your name was Catalena…"

Zeal raised an eyebrow, desperately trying to recall her meeting with Al and gather all of the important pieces. Finally, she realized, "Ohhh! Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, I'm sorry I lied to you, kid. The name's Zeal. Catalena's the name of the human whose body I inhabit."

The sound of Al's body shifting in confusion told Zeal to explain more.

"Since you've actually come to the Devil's Nest, that means you're prepared for our little exchange, correct? If that's the case, then I might as well fill you in on all the unimportant details. At least, I find them to be a nuisance." Zeal rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, caressing short, brown hair. Her slit eyes were shut as she enjoyed the feeling.

"…You'll have to explain more than just all of that, then."

With one of her arms still outstretched behind her head, Zeal opened one eye to peer at Alphonse. As he recalled, she mentioned herself to be rather suspicious. Suspicious was nowhere near her definition. Something about this "Zeal" just felt off. Her energetic, live-in-the-moment demeanor placed a sense of unease in people around her.

"Oh, I know, sweetie. I'll explain everything once you've met Greed. Now why don't you do me a favor and take off your helmet, alright?"

Alphonse observed Zeal's sly smirk for a second before noticing the hand that was behind her head travel upward, at some point gesturing towards him. Just as he noticed this, a surge of some red energy shot at him, crackling at his face. The power of this red substance was so great; Al felt his helmet become dislodged from where his head would have been.

As he stood still in surprise, Martel quickly subdued him, using some sort of inhuman power to slip inside the once hollow suit and claiming it as her own.

"Sorry to drop in."

"What are you doing?" Al shouted, startled out of his mind, "This feels weird!"

"Trust me kid, it feels weirder in my position."

"You two don't even know what you're saying. I'm personally weirded out the most just watching your exchange here," Zeal sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

In the meantime, Dolcetto carefully crept at Martel/Alphonse's feet to retrieve his sword, and then pawed his way to the unconscious Bido in attempt to slap him awake.

Only one thought occupied Alphonse's troubled mind.

What a bunch of freaks!

**...**

"What do you mean you _don__'__t __know?__" _Came the assertive, and surprisingly not so excited voice of Zeal.

"R-really!" Al waved his hands before him, as if trying to generate some sort of shield between himself and the spiteful aura of Zeal. "My brother did all of the work…so I can't help you. But if you really do want to know how to soul bind, you'd have to ask him yourself…"

Zeal leaned forward towards Alphonse, her gritted, frustrated teeth lowering into a long scowl. Great. Just great. She thought they'd finally found the answer to all of their problems, yet the key they thought would fill the slot just wouldn't fit well enough.

Zeal, along with Roa, Martel, Dolcetto, and newly awakened Bido sighed and uttered some complaints. Dolcetto even said something that was present in all of their minds, "The boss isn't going to be too happy about this…"

"Oh, yeah, shark boy. Where is he, anyway?" Zeal inquired to the crowd behind her, just wanting to set aside her depression for something amusing.

"He should be coming soon…" Roa, the cow human chimera replied. "He said he had some things to do, but I'll be honest, I don't want to see the poor guy who has to meet his wrath once he finds out we've met another dead end."

Zeal smirked, "Greed's Greed, not Wrath. Whoever Wrath is, anyway." The slit's in her gray eyes followed back to Alphonse, to whom she began flicking her fingers against, "So, anyway. This big brother of yours…is he that short blonde kid I saw at the meat market the other day? Edward, I think his name was."

"Exactly. Though I don't think he'd appreciate it if you call him short."

Zeal blew a raspberry before holding back more laughter, "Heh, what's a midget like him ever going to do to me? Just what heights can he reach for?"

"I'm serious. Ed wouldn't hesitate to hurt you if you tease him about his height. He doesn't let anyone get away with calling him short."

The expression on the homunculus' face immediately went deadpan, "…So…I'm guessing _you__'__re _the more mature of the both of you, then."

"I wouldn't say that either! No wonder brother didn't trust you when we first met!"

Lips pursed, Zeal childishly replied, "Aww, really? But what isn't there to love about me? You see, I'm a very dependable person…you can confide in me to get any job done. I won't deny anything. That's just how I am: Zeal."

Zeal's hand outstretched towards Alphonse's helmet, fiddling with his spiked under jaw and moving it upwards then downwards and back again.

"Especially not to deliciously innocent children like you," she smiled, and any naïve child would say Zeal looked almost like a beautiful, doting mother; until she slapped the iron jaw away and pulled herself away from Al's seated figure, yawning, "…You know, just so long as I get benefits from the trade…"

She earned stares from the human chimera from the room (Save for Martel, whom she was unsure could actually see through Alphonse), until the sounds of someone clapping gathered all of their attention.

His entrance seemed like the high point of everyone's day. Except for Zeal's. And his first comments didn't help any.

"Oh, really? Then you won't mind leaving for a second while I tend to our little guest here." The homunculus Greed purred, obviously directed at Zeal as he traipsed his way through, wearing those annoying shades of his.

Zeal grimaced as Greed pushed his way through all of them, kneeling in front of Alphonse and making the act of removing his helmet his first order of business. A whistle escaped Greed's lips once he confirmed there truly was none other than Martel within the child.

"Why should I leave? He's obviously come for me and not you."

"That wasn't an exchange I've agreed to. And from what I've heard, you're no longer needed here; the person we need is this kid's brother, and he doesn't seem to like you. And we can't be having that, now can we?" Greed grinned at Zeal, challenging her heated figure to retort whilst removing his round shades from his purple eyes.

The female homunculus' fists clenched. She felt them loosen within seconds. If her presence truly did instigate this blonde-haired midget, then it would hurt both she and Greed's chances at learning the secret to soul binding. And she truly could not 'be having that'.

Zeal sighed, face palming before subtly obliging to Greed, "Whatever. Just don't screw anything up."

The spiky-haired male homunculus, as well as Alphonse and the human chimera observed Zeal as she hastily and almost angrily made her way towards an exit. They were all anticipating the usual witty comments she would direct at Greed before her every leave.

"…Since I wouldn't be the only one who wouldn't forgive you if this soul binding thing were to mess up."

Whoops. Not witty. More like serious.

Greed stuttered, understanding faintly who Zeal was referring to, "R-right. Yeah. Don't worry, I don't mess up very easily."

**.**

**.**

**.**

Wrapping her arms around herself, the brunette appeared to shrivel within that black blazer she wore. Colorless eyes stared forward, watching puddles begin to form on the streets around her and observing her own distinct breath as she breathed. It was getting colder, which meant rain was destined to spew.

The certainty of such gloomy weather became clear once a dress shoe splashed into a still-forming puddle. Zeal grimaced, studying the damp heel of her shoe as she reprimanded herself for being so inattentive.

_Need a hug?_

"…As if you'd be the one to give it to me."

_Would you prefer one from Greed, then?_

A single chuckle escaped Zeal's lips. She cradled her arms against her chest while walking out on the emptied streets alone. Yes, rain would come, and no one in Dublith desired to get wet. Not a one besides this homunculus, of course.

"You don't understand. The only person I'd accept a hug from is myself. And stop attempting to tease me; I simply loathe Greed. Don't trouble my shaky relationship with him with some bashful form of affection." Despite her harsh words, the homunculus was shaking from the cold.

_Zeal, you've been walking around for hours, now. You look lost._

"Do I? The fog impeding my vision a hint for you?"

_Ha, I mean internally. You know you can't hide your innermost feelings from me._

Zeal bit her tongue again, secretly hoping that Catalena could feel her tongue being bitten down on too, "…Well, since it appears I can't hide anything from you, you might as well know."

_I'm all ears._

"…If I really do get my own body in the end, what am I going to do? For the entire month I've lived, I've lived with you and Greed's gang. There isn't anything else I know how."

_I think I can sympathize with you. So you don't have anything in mind at all? Why not join the military?_

"You must be joking! Joining the military is the last thing I'd ever do!" Zeal laughed. All the while, she despised the humidity that was beginning to set in, "…I've been thinking about finding these other homunculi. I think whatever their cause is, is my own rightful place."

_…_

Though she waited eagerly for some form of reply that would appease her, there came none, and Zeal continually grew distance between her and the Devil's Nest. The more time she ate up with this thoughtful walking, the more easier it seemed to wait anxiously for her new body.

"…"

_Hey, Zeal. Don't you think it's about time we get back to the Devil's Nest? It's been a few hours._

Hesitating, the homunculus stopped, bearing witness to the fog all around her begin to waft away. "…Uh…"

Beside her, on the seemingly empty road, erupted a sound of several engines spurring towards her general direction. The sound grew louder and louder, until finally Zeal and Catalena watched helplessly as a chain of State Military passenger vehicles sped past them.

Zeal jerked forward, trying to discern any sign of movements belonging to those vehicles. The setting of the thick fog didn't help any.

"Shit. Was it just me or did those State Military dog carriers look like they were in a hurry?" Forming a canopy over her forehead, Zeal gazed into the far distance.

_…Are you…you're just kidding, right? You're not thinking what I'm dreading…right?_

A hand slipped into her black blazer, the cottony surface cold from the current temperature. Within one of her pockets, Zeal felt a hard, smooth surface against her fingers. As if she could immediately feel some sort of power upon touching the stone, Zeal licked her lips, anxious.

"You know what one thing I've never been able to try out yet is, Cat?"

_…What's that?_

The only response would be a poorly hidden laugh on account of Zeal.

Any bystander would automatically assume the short-haired woman whom had the most vile, sadistic and spiteful looking expression on a normally attractive face would be one to avoid. In her defense, no one could understand the act she was about to conduct was one to be very excited about.

**.**

**.**

**.**

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

_I can't believe this…?_

_Why? Why me?_

_What did I ever…_

"Sergeant Major Cain Ashford?"

Standing behind the tall and senior figure of the Führer, Cain could not help but eye his quadruplet of swords strapped at the elder's waist.

There would be no interrogation, here.

But what could he do? Jeopardizing his own safety wouldn't help those he couldn't already save. It was too late, and whether or not it was Cain's fault the gang's security became thwarted, there wasn't anything he could do.

"…Sir?"

A small pupil focused on the younger man, who deemed himself so noticeably pitiful. If Bradley could see this, he wouldn't care. The older man smiled, ignorant, "Why don't you take the lead? I'm sure you know this place better than any other." Bradley's small, distinct black pupils' message was easily read.

They know.

With those words, the greatest pain Cain had ever felt engulfed him.

His usually bright, hazel eyes became devoid of any form of positive compassion. Cain solemnly obeyed the Führer's command, gripping a pistol in his left hand before cautiously and almost lifelessly making his way to the pub's entrance.

The sole of his combat boot struck down the entry door, the horde of military men behind him filing through as soon as he signaled it clear. With the Führer entering first, and then a sparkly, hulking blonde man, the blue dogs of the military paraded through—as if he were any different.

The pain he felt spiking through him with each step as he followed his squad mates and others grew intensely.

Though it wasn't fear that was Cain's current pain.

It was betrayal.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Well, shit. You think the blonde kid called them or something?" Zeal muttered indignantly as she crept along some bushes, observing the two State Military officers guard the Devil's Nest entry door.

A good inquisition, but both Catalena and Zeal didn't care much for the details. The only thing that mattered is that there were enemies in the Devil's Nest, and as two partners-in-crime: the easily excitable abomination and the quick-witted information broker, there was said enough to be shot on sight.

So when the two of them walked into the pub, there wouldn't be a problem for Zeal to demonstrate some alchemical prowess, now would there?

_Just deal with it. Find Greed and whoever else. I don't care who dies as long as it's not them._

Zeal fingered the glittering red stone in the palm of her hand, smirking eerily. "Well now…I don't need your permission to deal with such a menial task." Emerging from the foliage, the woman fitted her hands within her pockets while wearing the most devious smirk. Slowly, she closed in on the two guards. "Especially not one as fun as this one."

One of the State Military noticed the woman nonchalantly approaching them and gripped the barrel of his rifle threateningly, "Stay back! This area is off limits to civilians."

An unsettling feeling arose in each of the men as they gathered their weapons, aiming it at the dangerously close lone woman. She didn't acknowledge their presence; she didn't even look at them, instead her gaze remained so intently fixated on the missing doorframe.

"H-hey wait-! Don't get any closer!"

"…"

And the last thing they'd ever see again—what they would remember, were those stormy gray eyes that failed to return the favor. That, and the gory mess of blood and innards that stained the pavement once the red energy subsided, and the two officers found themselves impaled by spikes that mysteriously emerged from the ground.

Zeal stepped over the bodies, and as she entered the building, became quite relieved once the sounds of rain hitting a rickety roof commenced. Looking down at her feet, she noticed the newly poured rain wash the blood of the recently slain men drain down the Devil's Nest hallway.

"Ech," she spat, hopping over the rivers of reddish rain streaming through the pub hallway.

_Beautiful._

Catalena's sarcasm amused the female homunculus. Said woman began patrolling the hallway, ready to create a shield of rock using her alchemical powers whenever someone dared point a gun at her. "Great minds think alike. That was pretty exciting; would you like to give a try?"

_If you mean to hand me temporary control of my body just to kill someone, then no. I'll leave the dirty work to you._

Zeal grumbled, disappointed at Catalena's dullness, "Well you're even more mood-killing than usual. Something's on your nerves, am I right?"

Taking her sweet time as she traipsed through that same hallway, Zeal noticed bullet holes all around the walls, as well as some splatters of blood here and there. Zeal stopped in her tracks once she noticed a very mutilated inhuman body sitting with its head hung low and its back against the bloody wall.

That of which resembled a crocodile.

Forgetting about the late reply of Catalena, Zeal crouched in front of the dead human chimera, confirming her suspicious true "…Looks like they're not taking any prisoners. This guy got shot up good."

_That's…really what I'm worried about, Zeal. In fact, this whole reality is overwhelming to me. I can't stomach the idea of Greed, or anyone else being gone._

Zeal stood erect, heaving a sigh. More noise came from some other part of the pub, and it alarmed the homunculus. "…I understand. Before you lose your mind, I'll try to find your boyfriend."

Actually, Zeal didn't understand. She didn't see why Catalena should feel bad over someone's death. She just couldn't understand humans at all. Though she couldn't compute the emotions, she felt it. The whole thing about Zeal feeling whatever Catalena felt? True, on all accounts.

And what she was enduring—worry—wasn't a very excitable feeling.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"No! I…won't…go!"

"Be a good boy and stop resisting, kid! STOP. RESISTING! Go this way!"

"Nooooo! I wanna see brother!"

Martel stopped struggling, feeling empathetic towards the child. She heaved a sigh before stretching she and Al's limbs towards her desired general direction again, "Look, kid, chances are, your brother's a heaping pile of meat after going up against Greed. He—"

The echo of footsteps intruding towards them made both Martel and Alphonse lose their breaths. Though Martel was relieved once she noticed Greed walking along the sewer line, noticing the both of them, came over, "Martel. Kid."

At the sound of his voice, Martel lifted off Alphonse's helmet to meet Greed's signature grin, "Greed! What happened? Where's all that noise coming from? Did you beat the information out of the boy?"

Martel's mention of Edward Elric caused Greed's grin to disappear, and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, slowly replying in a low, defeated tone, "Yeah…well, no actually. The situation itself went out of hand." The male homunculus glanced behind him, "…Speaking of dire situations, we should really try getting out of here."

"What? Why?"

"W-what happened to my brother? What did you do?" Alphonse cried out to Greed, who showed no sign of sympathy at all.

"Look kid, your brother's gonna be fine. It's _us _that's in trouble. We should really be getting out of here..."

Greed's lips parted to speak more, only to be impeded by another voice.

"Whew. So much time has passed but it looks like I've finally found you." A figure bearing twin swords in each hand while wearing Amestrian military regalia spoke to Greed.

Martel quickly slipped back into the suit of armor while Greed greeted their new guest, looking as unimpressed as always, "What the hell? How'd you get in here, old man?"

"That's Führer Bradley!" Martel spoke low, low enough for Greed to hear.

Glancing from the corner of his eyes to Martel and then back at the "Führer", Greed repeated after her, "The Führer…is this old man?" Greed then smirked, holding out one of his palms in front of him, "The way he's holding those weapons of his, I don't think he's here for a drink or anything…what is it you want, old man?"

Bradley only smiled, the only visible eye of his shut in false benevolence. Once he rested only a few feet away from Greed and the suit of armor, he replied, almost casually and light-heartedly, "Like I mentioned before, I've been hunting you down for quite a while now, _Greed.__" _The former's brows furrowed.

"…" Greed slowly gestured towards Martel to get away from there, and the suit of armor tried its best to quietly crawl away. At least, to a safe distance, and that was only due to Alphonse's own struggle. Martel didn't smile too much about leaving Greed behind.

"Just as you suspected, you won't be leaving here conscious today, and I'm going to be the one to ensure that."

"…How do you know who I am?"

Completely remaining ignorant of Greed's questions, Bradley continued, "I'm just an old man, though. What could someone like me ever do to overpower someone as young and lively as you?"

Greed was finally becoming peeved at the authority figure's presence, and a black substance started to cover his hand. "Retire, old man—"

Feeling of his right hand suddenly disappeared. Greed absent-mindedly glanced at said limb to question it—rather, where his hand _should _have been. Realizing his hand had been sliced clean off; Greed's feet staggered backwards only a few inches before Bradley closed in again.

"Tsk!"

Bearing his two swords, Bradley swung at Greed, whom was still regenerating his right hand, desperately used his already shielded left hand to deflect his enemy's sword strokes. He succeeded in repelling him for a few seconds, before Bradley came too close and seemed even faster than Greed himself.

They both swung, Bradley with one of his blades and Greed with his newly regenerated right claw. The two hard surfaces collided with one another, and as Bradley's sword nicked Greed's shoulder, Greed's protruding claws struck the older man's face.

Then the two men broke away from each other; Greed trying to put as much distance as possible as his wounds healed again, "Shit. You're fast…for an old guy. I can't even get my Ultimate Shield to form fast enough…" Glaring purple daggers at his opponent, Greed scowled.

But his anger would soon be replaced with awe once he realized just where he hit the old man.

Inhuman speed, strength, finesse…and a familiar tattoo that Greed himself had stamped on his left eye.

Crap.

Greed backed up even more at the realization. Unfortunately for him, Bradley immediately picked up his pace, already appearing right before the younger-looking homunculus' eyes, "First glances brands me an old man, and I would have no chance against someone like you, but things are different with us homunculi, correct?"

"Damn it—!"

Greed uttered a cry of pain as his attempts to fight back the Führer were easily overpowered, and Bradley was able to slice his torso again. Holding his bleeding chest and standing feet away from Bradley after the struggle, he could only glare helplessly at him.

"Just as you have the Ultimate Shield, I have the Ultimate Eye. That of which reveals your weaknesses for me."

"Bastard…"

"So, Greed…what do you think? How many times am I going to have to kill you before you stay dead?"

**.**

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**.**

Something felt wrong. Besides bearing witness to Zeal's mindless acts of killing any intruding Amestrian soldiers she could, just as suddenly as the military came, so had this sick feeling.

Zeal, realizing this, stepped over bodies she had crushed using a shield wall sort of object. Using the power of the Philosopher's Stone, Zeal created a slab of cement that filled the entire space of the Devil's Nest hallway perimeter, perfectly protecting the homunculus from any gunfire.

"Huh…Cat? You're feeling all weird again. Would you stop that?"

_…Something's…not right._

"What do you mean? You know, besides the whole, 'oh, the Devil's Nest is getting attacked' ordeal?" Zeal joked, her shield wall crumbling into the ground below her.

_It's just a sickly feeling. I don't understand it either. Continue on._

Zeal waited for that annoying voice in her head to speak again. After being accompanied by only silence (Despite the occasional racket of gunfire in another room), she smirked to herself, "Well…since nothing's bothering you, I'll get back to the killing."

So the homunculus did continue on, stepping over the occasional human chimera body and using an extent of her extra Philosopher's Stone to easily cut short a few Amestrian soldier lives. It was only until it seemed Zeal's chain of endless kills and record of remaining unscathed ended by some lucky bullet had her excitement smoldered.

Judging from the sudden pain in her shoulder, as the bullet wound regenerated, Zeal slowly craned her neck to spot the dead man who had just dared to shoot her. Colorless eyes widened to their respective heights once the visage of the man deemed familiar to both women.

_Cain…_

Zeal jerked backwards, facing the male as he pointed a recently fired gun in her direction. Though the wound had already healed and she felt fine, a face of sheer hatred would be distinguished from the homunculus' face.

"Your little boy toy? What the hell is he doing here?" A thought suddenly hit Zeal, and she grinned, "Hey…do you think he's the one who led the military here?"

_I don't think…he wouldn't…no. No way in hell is that possible._

A face completely devoid of emotion welcomed them, and a voice whose tone was the opposite of compassion accompanied the look, "Zeal. Catalena."

_Ask him what's happening, Zeal, please!_

Respecting the wishes of the owner of the body, Zeal obliged, "…So kid, would you mind enlightening the two of us why the officials are here to gun us all down? Oh, and would you mind telling me why you had the nerve to ruin my clothing?"

Cain lowered the hand that held his pistol, "…I shot you because I thought it would knock you out of that killing trance I've watched you become acquainted with the last six men."

Placing a foot forward to steady himself, Cain gestured towards his chest,

"Catalena, if you can hear me, please believe me when I say I didn't directly tell the Führer about this place!"

Had the both of them had their own bodies, two eyebrows would be raised at that moment. Though Zeal spoke for both their minds, "…Directly? What do you mean?"

"When I got to my military post, there the Führer was…he didn't question me about _anything__—_he just ordered me to accompany him to this place. I didn't know where we were headed for until we actually arrived here." The way his formerly soulless tone dissipated into a cracked voice, the two women sympathized with him, "…and when I say I didn't directly affect all of this, when Greed and I rummaged through classified files, it's possible I was found out…"

…

Cain awaited any sign of forgiveness or salvation, yet neither Zeal nor Catalena would grant him that. Zeal stared at the bloodied ground, muttering, "…Well…what do you think?"

_…I can't…comprehend anything anymore. I just want to know if Greed's all right or not. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me if Cain is telling the truth or not. There isn't anything that can reverse that anymore._

"…Please don't think I'm betraying you…I wouldn't ever do that. I've watched over you since we were kids, Catalena…or at least tried to."

The emotionless slit eyes of Zeal scrutinized Cain carefully.

_Just get us away from here. From him. I'll deal with him later, once I get my body back._

Stepping away from Cain, Zeal smirked as she replied, "Heh. Glad you're being optimistic about getting your body back, Cat."

"So she can hear me, right?"

As if contemplating whether or not it would be fine with Catalena in speaking to the male, Zeal hesitated before answering him, "…Yeah, what of it?"

"…She must be worried about Greed, then."

Zeal purred, gratifying Cain, "You know her too well. Yeah, she's pretty skeptical on the whole Greed-is-dead thing. Do you know where his body is? Or, if he actually is alive, where he's hiding?"

"…Do you know where the sewer pipelines are, Zeal?"

"…Sewers, sewers…hm, I think I do. I'm guessing Greed's ingenuity told him to escape through there?"

Turning his back on the homunculus, there was a delayed reply on Cain's part, "…He might be in trouble. I know from the determined look on the Führer's face that he was looking for him. I don't know how experienced our Führer is, but if I were you, I'd worry about Greed."

Zeal expected Catalena to tell her to thank Cain. There was no sign of response. Zeal rubbed the back of her neck, stuttering as she stumbled for a reply of appreciation, "W-well…thanks. I guess we won't be seeing each other for a while now."

"Seconded."

Glancing over her shoulder to steal one more look at Cain's back as she faced the opposite direction, Zeal added, "Later, then."

The faint, familiar emotion of some form of remorse grew inside of the morally hollow homunculus, causing Zeal to hold her head with one hand as a headache ensued.

Catalena's emotions were slowly spiraling out of control…

…and Zeal didn't like it.

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><p><strong>[1]<strong>** – **Holy Mother, I think Rose was one. It's some sort of religious figure or something.

**A/N: **Listening to Wang Yi's theme: Teary Edge. So the feel of this chapter came solely from this touching, epic theme song, AND I think would definitely fit the feeling for the end of it. Hell, the whole song fits this chapter, save for some of the comical relief.

WHAT? THERE WAS COMICAL RELIEF IN THIS CHAPTER?

…Um…yeah. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY HUMOR?

Anyway. Sure, you can listen to it if you want. There's no singing or anything, but I…just…love it. SO TOUCHING. Look for girl who looks like Lightning on youtube, black hair, shiny sparks, etc

Yeah, the game she's from isn't necessarily recommended…though I love some of its characters. Wanna see one? I think my profile pic has my second favorite.

This concluding author's note is very long. But I really would love to thank you all for reviewing—those of you who have reviewed most of my chapters, I freaking less than three you.

Though anyone who reviewed at all, I'll love you forever, and I won't care if you reject me! /derp

And to end this update, I believe Jayfish asked me a question about Zeal. Well, at first I was like, "Zeal's got a real flamboyant personality, so why not make it an it?" Besides, too many female OCs get annoying to even the writer. Regardless, I couldn't help myself and a little Zeal x Greed flare makes the story just a little more fun for the writer and the readers. So now Zeal is female.

Murder you? I think Zeal would actually be interested in you. At least, anyone who has the guts to actually ask her that type of question is worth speaking to in her book.

At least for a while, before Zeal drags you into a nearby alleyway and does whatever her colorful mind desires. Don't feel scared! Maybe she just wants to party…or stab you. Whatever. Never can tell what goes on in her head.

Sorry this chapter is so long (IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LONGER, but I thought enough is enough. I really wanted to get to the part when…well…I can't tell you). I sincerely apologize. It's just…the episode this is from deserves a lengthy chapter, don't you agree? Too bad I had to cut it short.

**Any other questions shall be left in a review.**


	8. Revelations

**A/N: **So now finally, we draw away from the original part of the story OR we can label it as "Catalena's background" and finally incorporate her roles into the actual plot of FMA Brotherhood. Oh and let's not forget Zeal and Cain. Shan't forget about them. (Aw, come on, you can't dislike them that much!)

Questions! Exactly how is our aloof original character going to react to the outside world, after confining herself for so long underground? (Not literally) What is she going to do about her friends' deaths? Lastly, when the HELL is Zeal going to leave her alone already!

**Warnings:** Some angst and emotional crap, then a real surprise at the end!

**Listening****to: **Still Wang Yi's theme: Teary Edge. I find music alone without the singing keeps the lyrics from creeping out onto the document I'm typing—which is good!

**Disclaimer:**I do not own FMA or FMA Brotherhood. If I did, I would have let Wrath get just a few more hits in on Greed. Why? Just because.

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><p><em><strong>Rapacious<strong>_

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_| Sometimes it is not so easy to let go of something. |_

**Chapter 8**

Revelations

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"It honestly couldn't smell any worse down here," pressing one of her palms to level her head, the homunculus' free hand dragged along the concrete wall beside her.

She was having trouble walking due to internal difficulties.

Zeal expected—and wished—that the human inside of her would tease the homunculus on her weakness, but Zeal knew she wouldn't be hearing any of that kind of talk at this time. She might never hear of it again if the two of them couldn't escape, but Catalena was too damn stubborn to leave without any clue of her friends' whereabouts.

The only thing that accompanied Zeal as she walked into this endless sewage tunnel was the quiet churning of the wastewater. The dirty visual interpretation of this foul substance had no effect on Zeal. That is before the grayish-blue water suddenly appeared crimson to her.

Rubbing the soles of her rapidly blinking eyes, the homunculus stopped to stare at the bloody water. Hastily, she searched for the source.

"Oh…my," came the dejected tone of Zeal once she saw the bodies.

She felt an odd change in the moaning chorus (Pertaining to the constant wailing of the Philosopher's Stone) of the consciousnesses inside of her, and knew that Catalena had already distinguished the two familiar pieces of body parts swimming around lifelessly in the water, like trash.

Her friends, slashed apart in two before being carelessly tossed into the water like worthless pieces of garbage.

At that point, the human inside of her mentality had cracked.

Like some sort of surge sending shockwaves through her body, the full intensity of Catalena's internal turmoil became Zeal's. Even though Catalena never uttered a word, the homunculus didn't mind jerking her body forward, holding her head and screaming in agony.

After the elongated cry, Zeal pinched her eyes closed, putting pressure onto her skull as if it would smother the montage of negative human feelings.

"Control your damn emotions, Catalena! I can't fucking think when your own head's about to explode!" Zeal had managed to seethe out through her teeth.

Even though the woman inside of her did not retort, Zeal already knew she was caught between the line of impossible and possible—if Greed was still alive or killed. The latter was the obvious reality, which Catalena could not handle accepting.

She would always remember his words: impossible is impossible.

"Look, I don't mean to be an asshole, but _face __reality._Yeah, with the way Dolcetto and Roa's cut up, I do think Greed's done for too. But please, for my—_his_ sake, stop beating yourself up, and let's just get the hell out of here!"

…

Zeal stopped, staring hard at the bloody maelstrom both in front of her and inside of her. No, nothing could process correctly. Catalena's own troubled, hurt emotions and Zeal's generic, confused ones collided with one another, pending one hell of a freak out in Zeal's case. She couldn't comprehend anything as she felt the feelings Catalena was feeling—dread, denial, the destruction of her own sanity—

The homunculus' physical body stared at the bloodied water in front of her, though all her vision truly saw was the mortified image of Catalena's traumatized, furious, saddened visage, disposition, all together in one unsustainable package within her own and Zeal's consciousness.

Zeal didn't understand as she watched the kneeling figure of her human counterpart cradle her head, biting her already punctured lip in writhing silence.

Was this how the human mind worked? To dwell so foolishly on things you can't change? So what if Greed was gone? That didn't mean Catalena needed to tear her hair out from it. Zeal couldn't say she was running away, because here she was, as if trapped in some sort of endless nightmare.

And as she watched pitifully as Catalena continued to drown within herself and become victim to her emotions, Zeal finally began to understand something that one couldn't learn just by looks alone.

But her newfound understanding of Catalena would be disclosed at a much more peaceful time.

Zeal blinked, watching with an expressionless face; watching the destruction of a human from foolish emotions; watching as Zeal's own understanding of the world seemed to fade into a sheath of black on a par to Catalena's.

Staring hard at absolutely nothing, the gray optics of this stationary homunculus slowly dilated.

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"Whoaaa. Well that was very merciless of you," Greed sighed, standing up straight as his previous wounds began to regenerate again. Glaring daggers into the back of Wrath, he humorlessly added, "You can kill me as many times as you want, but they're not coming back."

"What is it? Have you grown attached to your things?" Wrath faced the older homunculus, holding his two swords in front of him.

Greed looked away, smirking yet not wanting to meet the eyes of his ruthless opponent, "…Of course not," turning his head back there was an almost villainous smile on his face, "But killing my possessions is the same as taking them away from me, and I don't like people _stealing_ my things!"

"Is that so? What about the little bird I keep finding scavenging through our military's classified files?"

Any witness in that particular scene could instantly tell apart Greed's current expression from his receding one. Certainly Wrath could read that he was about to meet Greed's own fury.

"Whatever you're here for old man: leave her out of this."

Raising one of his claws in order to seriously maim Wrath, Greed and the former met weapons again.

But this time, Wrath didn't have the time to play around with his older brother and robotically deflect his attacks; this time, Wrath thrust his swords into Greed with the intention of putting him down for good. Or at least rendering him immobile. Which ever works.

As soon as the two swords hit very vital, immobilizing points of his body, Greed stood in shock, his jaw slightly agape. Once Wrath had two other swords follow after the preceding, Greed's whole body went in a state of unconsciousness.

"Stay asleep for now."

Holding only a single remaining sword in his hands, Wrath quietly watched as his older brother's body fell into the water, lying very still. He wasn't dead, but the way he looked now anyone could mistake him as such. Wrath turned away with the intention of returning back to the armored boy's body and discard the corpse sitting within. **[1]**

"—!"

A very distraught scream echoed through the tunnel, the pitch further intensified by the narrow walls one could almost hear or feel the mentally crazed feelings of the owner.

But in Wrath's mind, exactly who would be courageous enough—albeit, stupid enough to charge him so recklessly and without judgment of their own actions?

His answer was the shorthaired woman wearing a black blazer, whose anger or confusion flared so immensely one could see nothing when gazing into her blind eyes. The scream dimmed to an almost animalistic growl as the woman unknown to Wrath lifted one of her fists, tracing her fingers along the walls beside her as she raced closer to him.

The material of the wall seemed to rip off of its base, tearing and then flying towards him in an attempt to crush him. Luckily, with his Ultimate Eye, Wrath easily saw a safe path through the crumbling rubble, striding along with his single remaining sword bared to be rid of this new opponent. Silently and with the judgment this woman lacked, Wrath's sword closed in on her torso.

Seeing this, it was too late for the homunculus to recover from her recklessness, and promptly suffered a sword being pierced through her upper body. Had she a heart like a human, she probably would have died.

Clenching her teeth as gray daggers glared up into the different eyes of her opponent, Zeal had neither the interest nor the sanity to question the familiar tattoo he had on the left eye. Zeal gripped the blade, not feeling the pain that coursed through her hand and arm as she hissed, wrenching the weapon from her chest and then forcing Wrath away with all her remaining strength.

Wrath watched with an undisturbed nature as the potentially fatal wound he inflicted upon the woman was wrapped in a red light. He wasn't sure if this woman had animosity towards him, or if she just lacked self-control. Studying how she was able to reassemble her broken chest without lifting a finger, Wrath was fully aware of her species.

"…A homunculus?"

Zeal could only wheeze, as if breathing her last dying breaths. Though in her defense it felt like death for her, enduring both her own and the entity inside of her distraught emotions. Zeal whipped her hands through the air again, pushing them together and then pulling them apart to transmute a staff-like object out of thin air.

She wasn't good with weapons; in fact her ability was only Catalena's former ability, further enhanced by her inhuman speed, strength, and regenerative abilities. Catalena's deconstructive and reconstructive alchemical abilities were even stronger thanks to the additional Philosopher's Stone Zeal pilfered from Warner's body.

She just wasn't about to fight this guy hand to sword.

When their weapons clashed and they were eye to eye, Wrath questioned her again, "Where did you come from, homunculus? Were you the alchemical disaster left behind by that deluded man, Warner?"

Upon hearing the name of her dead creator, Zeal found the last bit of her strength to overpower Wrath and launch him away from her. The woman tossed the rod into the nearby sewage, branding it useless. Though the long gash across the bloodied sleeve of her blazer proved she didn't come out of the conflict unscathed.

Zeal inhaled and exhaled, slowly recovering mentally thanks to the realization of her recent injuries. "…Since you know so much about me, it makes it unfair because I don't know a thing about you."

"I see. I suppose it only makes it right to know the name of the one who is about to take your life. I am called Wrath…the Furious."

For a split second Zeal's irises widened, and then was replaced with a sense of malice and excitement, "Heh. Interesting you'd say that. Well, I guess I might as well tell you my name as well, since I'm the last thing you're going to see, Wrath!"

Grinning, she whipped her hand in front of her, sending a red shockwave to course through the ground and crackle towards her opponent, causing shards to shoot up from the tunnel's base. Yes, she loved to impale her enemies. It was the more amusing and exciting way of dealing with things.

Just like before, he had easily seen through her attack, finding the safest route through the protruding spikes before running this woman through. He sailed through the air, sword at waist's length before skidding to a stop.

Believing now to be the perfect moment to introduce herself, Zeal stared at motionless Wrath, "…The name is Zeal. I'm a human-based homunculus."

She was like him. The body she occupied must have been the acquaintance of Cain, "…So you're Greed's new pet?"

Zeal scoffed, "His pet?" Thinking it over, Zeal reluctantly explained, "I guess you could say that. The way he has a hold on the human inside of me, and she also ties me down, I'll admit I may be wrapped around Greed's little finger."

"…"

"…That is, unless you've torn both hands from his body."

The man went silent; his expression clearly read that the answer she sought would not be disclosed.

Zeal didn't see this though, and the only reply she was granted was from the person she least expected it from.

_This man who calls himself Wrath…he's Führer King Bradley, isn't he?_

The blatant emotions of Catalena that Zeal had ignored seemed to set themselves aside for the moment. Those sickeningly blue emotions suddenly burned red, and Zeal could taste the anger combusting inside of the both of them.

Taking notice of Wrath once more, the homunculus replied aloud, "Hell if I know. But with all those stars on his military uniform, he seems a pretty important person."

_So the Führer is…_

"Perhaps when Greed has seen his own end, he will repent for his betrayals of his fellow siblings."

Wrath's voice was sudden, and his vague yet strangely informative reply placed a sense of glee in Zeal.

Forgetting about whatever Catalena was planning or thinking, Zeal smirked, "…not happening."

Raising an eyebrow, the Führer clenched the handle of his sword gingerly.

The human inside of her grew silent, so Zeal continued,

"…He's Greed. There's nothing you guys got that can satisfy him. I'd know." Zeal's smirk widened into a grin as she stared up at the other homunculus, confidently, prideful, "…I've had a taste of it myself. That feeling of desire…rapacious. Predatory. I desire to have more of that passion, that intensity that zeal symbolizes. It doesn't matter how; I just want it!"

"Excitement? So you wish to have work?"

Cackling, Zeal teased, "The only time I've had a taste of it was when I was crushing all of your military men beneath my feet," her gray eyes dilated again, "…oh, it was so much fun~! Exciting, with all the blood and gore flying around everywhere."

She hit a nerve.

"…But I can't get the full intensity of passion through killing. I'm not Malice. I am Zeal. I have to experience all _sorts_of things before I reach that point I desire."

Satisfied with explaining the mechanics of her sinful mind, Zeal finished her haughty speech with a wolfish smirk. She hadn't exactly experienced death before, even after being stabbed a few times. There wasn't anything she feared at the moment.

In her prideful mind, the only thing she thought was,

_What more could this guy do to me?_

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Whipping his head around the gaping wall with his tear-ridden face, Cain was only met with the back of none other than Führer King Bradley. It would have been improper had he actually been crying; the condition of his face was because of the pounding rain he was standing in.

Creeping through what seemed to be a giant hole in the wall, Cain addressed the older figure with an almost fearful tone, "Er…Führer King Bradley…sir?"

Slowly the man craned his neck to greet Cain. When Cain laid eyes on the Führer, he noticed not a scratch was on him. Gulping, Cain began to wonder what exactly happened down there, and if Zeal, Catalena, or Greed escaped.

"Oh. Hello Sergeant Major. You came just in time to help clean up this mess." Bradley raised his hand to usher in a quick salute before wrapping it behind his back to observe common Amestrian soldiers carry familiar bodies out of the gaping holes on stretchers.

As the groups passed him, Cain could distinguish each of their mangled bodies:

There were two men who seemed cut in two, and even though a blanket was placed on the both of them Cain could recognize the body size to be that of a large man and a stouter one.

There was that armored boy, Alphonse Elric, whose supposedly hollow body was seeping with blood. Major Armstrong was carrying the unconscious boy on a stretcher. The hulking man didn't look like he came out of the assault unscathed.

Cain's hazel eyes glanced desperately from random face to face and the surroundings of this sewer tunnel, trying to find Greed or Catalena or Zeal—

"Looking for somebody, Sergeant Major Ashford?"

From the corner of his eyes the younger man noticed Führer King Bradley looking as content as ever. Now that he got a better look at him, he seemed to be missing four of his swords.

However hesitant and timid on answering, Cain already knew that Bradley was aware he was associated with one of the members of Greed's gang, more specifically, Catalena, "…Hm…a friend."

Amestrian soldiers passed by them, as if they were through searching the tunnel. A single officer stood before Bradley and saluted him, "Führer King Bradley, sir! We've cleared the tunnel of any casualties, and we've left the one you wanted alone."

Cain struggled to guess just who Bradley wanted as the latter replied politely, "Nice work soldier. Now return to getting rid of the bodies."

The nameless officer saluted before trotting off. Cain looked up to Bradley for an answer, because he was certain Bradley knew he was troubled. Although he was fearful he would be accused of treason or something like that, he worried about his friend's fates.

"The one you're worried about, was a brown-haired woman, correct?"

"…Sir?"

Heaving a sigh, Bradley began to fiddle with his eyepatch, "She was interesting to fight with. Although I've never gotten the chance to speak to her, I would love to know what kind of woman she was, " He turned to Cain, smiling.

But that smile didn't look comforting at all. Thankfully if Cain heard Bradley correctly, when he said, "would love to" instead of "would have" Catalena must have still been alive after fighting him. So where was she?

Assuming she was safe, Cain moved on to Greed, "And…the other one?"

"Ah, the reason why she came here in the first place; you don't have to worry about him anymore. I'll take care of him myself."

"Where is she?" His brows furrowed and he tried his hardest not to sound threatening.

Führer King Bradley's gaze was centered on the large gaping hole in the ground. After Zeal had revealed a little about herself to him and promptly angered him, Wrath scared her off after a little more cutting, and she delivered that alchemical discharge on the wall there. The reckless homunculus then escaped through that gaping hole, out into the pouring rain to who knows where.

One thing for certain: Wrath wouldn't see the last of that one.

"…Sergeant Major Cain Ashford, I'm ordering you to forget your relations to that woman and everyone else here. If you can prove that all of your criminal acquaintances are behind you and the Military has your loyalty, then we too can forget your crimes, and you can live your life free and for the military without such burdens."

"…"

"…And at any point, if you fail to do so, I'll have no qualms about executing you wherever you stand. Do I make myself clear?"

Who said Cain ever thought of Catalena as a burden? He already felt terrible about practically betraying both Greed's gang and her, but now the Führer was telling him to forget about them? How could Catalena ever forgive him?

Even if it left a bad taste in his mouth, Cain had to do his best to continue living, so that he may make all of this up to Catalena one day.

Sighing and closing his eyes, he replied,

"…Yes sir."

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It was supposed to be dusk; before absolute sundown; twilight.

But how could anyone tell the difference between dusk or dawn or night with that endless, gray blanket stretching across the gloomy sky?

The woman thought this, standing in the middle of the normally dry city of Dublith as she gazed up at that impenetrable gray sheet that was the sky.

Pockets of the clouds lit up frequently, some call it lightning. Crackles that erupted in one's very ears sounded often as well.

It was all so familiar and nostalgic to her, and she was happy to be able to feel the cold, wet droplets pelting her bare skin once again. Even more so she was ecstatic to feel this skin as her own like before.

With all that insanity literally behind her, it felt good to be human once again.

Almost.

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"The Führer was really scary back there wasn't he?"

With all of his cuts and bruises cleaned and bandaged, Edward displayed a slightly annoyed look while taking a bite of his mashed potatoes. He chewed angrily before swallowing and calming himself down, "…Yeah, he sure was. Major Armstrong looked pretty out of it too when we mentioned Hughes."

"We haven't seen him for a while, though. Maybe after we get your arm fixed we should head for Central. Have some more of Mrs. Gracia's quiche?"

At the mentioning of the quiche, the quality of the mashed potatoes prepared by the currently bedridden Izumi Curtis was unappealing to the young, growing boy, "…Yeah. I could probably use some of that at this point."

Alphonse rubbed his chest piece, as if it were growling, "Easy for you to say. I can't wait until I actually get to try some of it."

Edward displayed an empathetic face as he was about to remind Alphonse that they would eventually succeed, and that Edward would get both their bodies back to normal. That is, until a knock on the door ensued.

Both of the Elric brothers' heads lifted, and the two of them scurried to meet this unexpected visitor before Sig or Izumi woke up. As Alphonse stood behind him, Edward quietly rotated the brass knob, sliding the door open.

Glowing red eyes and golden ones looked startled as the figure stood before the doorframe, soaked with both rain and dried blood, with as much motion and expression as a mannequin.

Then she took a step inside; a dress shoe caked with mud splattered on the wood floor of the Curtis residence. Edward and Alphonse remained still and bewildered as the woman's whole body stepped out of the rain and collapsed on the floor in front of them.

Within her pounding ears, she only heard frantic voices.

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**.**

The scent of fresh linen wafted through her nostrils. She felt completely safe and serene, and just like the rain from before, it felt good to have a clean pillow against the side of her face like this.

She could question about the reality of there not being solid dirt beneath her face and she was welcomed by the hot-headed brat, but that would have been something she wanted to ponder about another day.

All that mattered was that it was Catalena in charge, and there was no sign of Zeal within her consciousness. Smiling to herself to have a moment's peace in such chaotic times, the woman tossed over in the bed.

To meet stern, golden eyes staring down at her.

Her gray eyes, which had pupils instead of slits thanks to Zeal's absence, opened and looked deprived of sleep. The appearance of Edward Elric did not appeal to her, "…Edward Elric, right? I apologize for dragging myself into your home."

He was on another bed beside her, and it was clear that he had gotten into a little fight as well considering what used to be an automail arm was now a bandaged stub. Catalena assumed Greed taught him a lesson or two. "It's not my place to get angry at you. This is my teacher's house, after all. But I'll admit you looked like you'd seen hell and back."

At first it wasn't humorous to her, but after realizing just how right Edward was she had to smirk as she sat herself up, "…I'm not usually one to dwell on things you can't change…but after I experienced it firsthand, I realize reality is a hard thing to swallow."

"Is that what you think? I find it hard to believe the thing that's sitting in front of me right now. Al told me you were a homunculus; is this true?"

Catalena looked around the room, finding the window beside her to be of particular interest. It was still raining outside. "…That's true. The homunculus inside of me was a result of poor decisions. And those poor decisions led to what happened today."

He watched the back of her head, his tone steady and low, "It looks like that even a homunculus comes to regret decisions they've made. That just makes you even more human than you guys think you are."

Catalena craned her neck at the boy, a little confused, "Who told you that homunculi were any different than humans? The only thing that sets us apart is this thing inside my chest."

Edward rested his head on his palm, watching the homunculus with a glazed look in his eyes, "…It's this other homunculus I met. Hey, Greed mentioned he didn't have anything to do with 'the other homunculi'. Is that the same with you?"

"…It looks like you don't know a thing about me. I'm just an ordinary woman who made poor choices. You may notice that my personality differs than when we first met. That's because the one you met was the homunculus side of me; her name is Zeal. When we first met, she told you her name was Catalena, which is my actual name."

"…No wonder I'm not as angered talking with you than I was back then." He snorted.

Catalena answered his reaction with a chuckle, "Speaking of the overzealous character, after we escaped from the Devil's Nest, I haven't heard a word from her. Really, I can't understand her at all. At one point she's excited and bloodthirsty then the next she's as quiet as a mouse. But I must thank her, because she is the reason why I'm still alive right now."

Edward stood up straight, looking reprimanding, "Now this is what I'm _really _curious about. Why the hell did you come here? Did you think I was going to take care of you or something? Because there's a fat chance at that."

Amused by how cooperative Edward was being, Catalena leaned her head on her hand, "…I just wanted to see a face that won't kill me. For once. Back at the pub, seeing everything through the eyes of Zeal, I remember the looks of disgust that were imprinted on my late friends' faces." Catalena stared down at the sheets wrapped around her waist, "…Just rarely would I see a friendly face in Greed."

Edward went completely silent, and Catalena was fine with that. He didn't understand homunculi; much less understand relationships between homunculi. And she was grateful for his naïveté.

"I don't mean to sound like an ass, but unfortunately for you, Al and I are leaving for Rush Valley tomorrow. You can't stay here, and I don't know what my teacher would do if I told her a homunculus was living in her house."

"Ha. I've heard of that somewhere. Anyway, like I said before, I just want a moment's peace. I'll be out of your hair sooner than you notice it yourself."

"No, I don't mean that. I would actually prefer you stick around, you being an alchemical discovery and everything. For payment of our hospitality, it'd be real nice of you to not scramble off," Edward demanded, raising his index finger in the air.

Catalena looked surprised, her own hands resting in her lap, "You want me to tag along with you and your brother?"

Edward shrunk into his blankets, turning his back on her to hide the nervous expression on his face, "Don't think it's personal or anything! I should actually seriously hurt you after what you and your gang did to my brother. It's just that you're a homunculus, and I can't let this opportunity pass by."

Falling quiet on her end, Catalena thought about it. What was she going to do anyway? It was clear that Zeal wasn't nearly strong enough to kill Wrath, so a personal vendetta was out of the question. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go anyway. Also, the ingenuity of this boy may someday help her in reclaiming her body as her own.

But the consequences were huge in comparison to the benefits.

When would she know when Zeal would return and take over? What would happen then?

If Edward Elric was a State Alchemist, then he had relations to the military. The idea of a human chimera, even more so a homunculus was a secret hidden by the government. Anyone who dug into classified matters that secretive would be executed. She could bet Bradley wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who did so.

And then there's Cain. What if she met him somewhere along the lines? What would she do, and what if he was already dead because he was allied with homunculi?

Then she finally decided. She would follow this boy, at least for a while. Just until she found some way to throw Bradley out of power, and get revenge on all he'd done. To be honest, the idea of a homunculus being the Führer of the country deserved to be killed.

Lying down on the bed again, there was only one thing she promised herself.

Do not let Edward Elric learn too much too fast, or he'll come to regret it as much as she regrets all she's done herself.

**.**

**.**

**.**

About three hours to sunrise, she was unable to catch any amount of sleep. She would toss and turn in her blankets, and she envied the snores that erupted from the sleeping boy beside her.

Drifting on the edge of awake and asleep, she could hear voices inside of her head. That was probably what kept her from blissful sleep.

_Hey, human. Can you hear me?_

Her eyes shot open, completely awake. Oh, so the thing keeping her up was Zeal. Damn, just when Catalena thought she was permanently gone, she had crept into her dreams.

Keeping mind of the people sleeping in the house, Catalena spoke aloud to her, "I have a name. And I've been hearing you for the past 5 hours. What could you possibly want?"

_Oh, really? Maybe you should have answered me sooner, then._

"Maybe you should make yourself more noticeable, considering there's about a thousand other souls inside of me. This is the first time I've attempted to fall asleep as a human-based homunculus, and now I see why your kind don't sleep."

_Heh. Well, you didn't think everything I've told you about us was a lie, huh?_

"…Hey, Zeal. What do you think about all of this? Were you listening the entire time?"

_Ah, you mean since the moment you realized I handed control of your body back? Yeah, I've been listening since then. That Wrath beat some sense into me, and I was kind of tired too._

"So what is your opinion?"

_My opinion? I could care less as long as I have some fun. You should know me by now._

She groaned, low enough for her ears alone. The remnants of a long, continuous rain dripped from the roof over her head, "…I should have guess you would be no help, referring back to the freak out back at the Devil's Nest."

_Hey, I'd love to see you suffer from your stupid human emotions without knowing what they were to begin with. I'd also love to see you fight Wrath. He'd tear you to bits in no time._

"…I've decided to help the Elric brothers for a while. Maybe it'll help me throw Wrath out of power."

_So now you're living for the cause of revenge? Hm, I never thought I'd see the day._

"Unlike you, I'm not a heartless being."

_Uh, hello? I'm a homunculus? Do I have to spell it out for you?_

Biting her lip, Catalena demanded, "Go back to how you were before; when you didn't exist."

_Careful, inconsiderate thinking like that and I might have to kill you._

"Shut up!" Catalena whisper-shouted, clenching her fists as she pounded them into the pillow, pretending it was Zeal's face.

"Um…Miss Catalena?"

It was a metallic, childish voice, slightly fearful and nervous. Catalena slowly sat halfway upright, weighing herself on a single forearm as she faced the armored boy.

_Great, it's mister cries a lot._

"…Alphonse Elric…you're still awake?"

He had a grip on the door, which he quietly and hesitantly pushed behind him as to not wake up Edward. "I don't sleep. It's one of the disadvantages of just being a soul attached to a body."

Feelings of sympathy rose in her. She couldn't believe that she had desperately wanted to be like him, and she was being inconsiderate by wanting something like that so badly; at the same time being blind to what that boy had to _do_ to be like that.

"…if being how you are is truly terrible, then why did you do it in the first place?"

Trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible, Alphonse tiptoed to the feet of his older brother's bed, "…Back when we were kids, we were just as attached to our mother as any normal child would have been."

"…"

"But unlike most children, we were raised by only our mother, who had to be the most kind and caring parent there ever was.

At the time my brother and I had no idea where our Father was, and before we knew it as we devoted the most of our life to alchemy, our mother was stolen by illness."

"You lost your body and your brother lost his arm and leg…because the two of you tried to bring her back to life," Catalena summed up, in a voice devoid of any emotion.

"Well…actually my brother lost only his leg, but gave up his arm to bind my soul to this suit of armor."

"…"

"Three years after that, we decided to search for the Philosopher's Stone to gain our bodies back. We burned our house down…and I'll never forget that day."

"Why did you burn it?"

"To keep us from straying from the path we swore we'd follow. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we have no home to return to, until we finally get what we wanted to achieve in the first place."

The things they'd seen and what they'd done made Catalena's own troubles pale in comparison. She truly was inconsiderate; she truly was selfish; she truly was greedy.

"I don't want my brother to think that I blame him for what's happening…not anymore. All we have is each other."

"…If you could, would you change something you did in the past?"

The helmet piece lifted, meeting Catalena's stone-like gaze. Alphonse probably knew that all of her friends were dead, and could relate to why she'd ask such a question. Thinking over something that the realist wouldn't object to, Alphonse replied,

"Wouldn't every one? All of us humans have something we couldn't agree with within ourselves. But that just makes us even more human. Just because you have a homunculus inside of you doesn't make you any different."

Laughing quietly, her fingers entwined within her lap. Catalena watched her fingers wrap around one another. He was absolutely right and she had thought the same way. She just wanted to know if she was any different than another human.

"I'm relieved you think that way. …Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure, what is it?"

**…**

_Just as Zeal did not understand how humans were able to take pleasure in one another, neither had Catalena._

_She secluded herself from the light of the world and chose to confide herself in greed._

_The only two people who had ever gotten close to finding out how she ticked were Cain and Greed._

_But now Cain was dead to Catalena, and Greed was literally dead._

_There wasn't much difference between them._

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>[1]<strong>** – **If it gets on anyone's nerves, I am aware Martel dies _after_Greed gets beaten the crap out of. I just switched it for the sake of this story.

**A/N: **Zeal needs to get laid. Unfortunately, she gets a muzzle for a while now.

Who KNOWS what's going to happen from this point on. Just so you know, the story will sometimes alternate between Cain and Catalena, though Cain faintly because he doesn't seem to be liked very much. I really tried to make him sort of humorous to read, but the angsty part of the anime came too soon before Cain grew favor from you readers. :P

Oh wells. I shall try my best regardless.


	9. Aftermath

**A/N: **Welcome to the dark carnival, brothers.

So, HOLY CRAP. Knowing my obsession with Greed and Ling, I HAD to see how Greed dies in the original FMA. Well, yes, at one point it is really graphic (And he's slightly less hot in this version), but it…DUDES IT MADE ME CRY. LIKE HOLY CRAP.

GREED.

YOU.

SELFLESS. (Considering he's the sin of Greed, I know this is the best he can manage!)

KNIGHT.

I'm holding back tears just typing this! My chest is like heaving! I know he dies sort of weirdly, but that! Was! Fucking A-mazing! Edward, I love you this much more for regretting to kill Greed. Though, here's the thing.

He did want to die, after all. I can see why. Watching your friends die for you like that…seems you have more of a heart in the original FMA than Brotherhood, Greed.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMA Brotherhood. Nor do I own the lyrics to "Again". If I did own FMA, Greed's smexy body wouldn't have been melted down. I'd have saved it in my pocket for later.

Your creators must hate you. Allow me to give you one last chance to bite back at your siblings, at the very least.

—Oh and on a side note, I remember I usually describe Zeal and Cat with gray eyes and sometimes with red eyes. Yes, I confuse myself, as well. It's just that I color Zeal/Cat with red eyes because it's cooler, so sometimes I mistake the two when writing. THE POINT IS SHE HAS RED EYES EITHER WAY OK. FORGET GRAY.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Rapacious<strong>_

**.**

_| It's not that I want to go back to the days of back then…_

…_It's just that I'm searching for the sky I've lost. |_

**Chapter 9**

Aftermath

**.**

**.**

**.**

_Drip drip._

The cold substance irritated him, and pulled him from restless slumber. As Greed opened his eyes however, he was only met with inhospitable pairs. Four, in fact.

"…Huh. I could have guessed it would be my siblings pulling the strings."

The homunculus who found himself pinned on a crosshatched stake only scowled. They were the last people he had ever wanted to see, but one can only escape from their past for so long. Because sooner or later…

"…But to start…we never really were much of a family, were we?"

…It will come back to haunt you.

"…Wakey wakey, Greed. Haven't seen you in years," a feminine figure, undeniably beautiful, was none other than Lust. Greed could point her out better than anyone else.

He cooed, though meaningless, "Why hello there, big sis. I'm relieved you're here to welcome me; I couldn't stand just being greeted by my hideous brothers."

"Like we'd humor you with a warm welcome."

"Hello Greed!"

From his elevated view, Greed spotted Envy "moping" and Gluttony looking as clueless as ever. He supposed that since things were looking grim for him, he'd have a little fun poking at his loving family.

"Hello, Gluttony. Still haven't found a diet that works for you yet."

To which the latter only responded by sucking on his thumb.

Greed ignored the defective homunculus and shifted his attention towards the androgynous looking teenager, "Ooh. If it isn't little Envy the _Jealous. _For the last time, get a new outfit. I'm sure everyone here can agree with me that you look like a little girl."

Resting his face on his palm, Envy only replied, uninterested, "You're in no place to throw comments like that."

"…So where's the big one?"

"Sloth's busy on an important mission. After all, we can't have him slacking off," Lust replied.

"Oh really…" Not really surprised, though Greed was disappointed none of them changed. The fourth face, however, was a new one—sort of. "…Who's the newbie?"

Previously staying quiet on his end, the dark-haired elderly-looking man had his hands crossed behind his back, not even sparing a glance at Greed, "I am called Wrath, the Furious."

"So the Führer's a homunculus? That's a real interesting story to tell the guys back home."

"What friends? Last I heard, all of your little 'possessions' were slaughtered back at Dublith!" Envy cackled, choosing now, of all times to butt in. His sadistic laugh shrunk to a mere smirk as he calmed down, "…You're the only survivor. I can only imagine the remorse you're feeling right now."

Greed couldn't come up with an immediate response. He had to fake a wolfish grin as thoughts ran through him. Was he really the only one to survive? Had Zeal escaped with kitten? Did Martel get away?

What the hell happened? Was he really going to die like this, without knowing if they were all right or not?

Fuck it. He was going to have some fun.

"Remorse? Ha! You don't know a thing about me, apparently. If I were you, I'd stay in my sulking corner and just keep my mouth shut, all right, ugly_?_"

The younger homunculus' eye twitched, "…What did you just call me?"

Greed whistled, "Whoa, someone's getting angry! Come on, why don't you show us all what you _really are_, you hideous little freak!"

"You bastard…I'll kill you—"

"Cease this quarrel. I will not tolerate bickering between brothers," it was a male voice, reprimanding like a parent but without the love.

And Greed could feel the lack of love right away, "…If it isn't my old man. The years certainly haven't been kind on you, because you sure look decrepit."

Closing a book their Father was reading, the bearded man glanced at his son; with no sense of care on his face, "Tell me, Greed…why did you betray your loving Father?"

"…Heh. I can't believe you just asked me that, pops. After all, you created me to be this way, right? I'm just being myself. I simply have higher ambitions than spending my life working for you!"

"I see. And if I asked for you to return to working for me?"

The homunculus' eyes widened, then he smirked, amused. Finally, he fiercely replied, "_Never!"_

"Very well then, Greed. I'll just have to see your position replaced by that human-based homunculus friend of yours," the father figure stood up, a book spread out on one of his hands.

The homunculus' lips parted, everyone else in the room other than Father disappearing, "…What?" His surprised voice softened as his gaze lowered from the old man to the vat below him, "…So…kitten made it out alive, eh?"

"What is it, Greed? Does your former possession matter to you?"

The homunculus lifted his head, smirking. If his arms weren't restrained against his back he probably would have flipped Father off, "Possession? Heh. Good luck getting kitten to listen to you, much less that crazy bitch inside of her!" Greed laughed at the impossibility, "It's impossible. I couldn't even get kitten to listen to me; I don't really know what she thinks of me personally."

"Impossible? And this comes from the guy who always said nothing was impossible! You change your mind or something?" Envy teased, but neither Greed nor Father would have the mind to retort to him about it.

"As you've said, your personal relationships don't interest me, and I'll have you know I will have no trouble subduing that zealous nature of hers. Do not worry your head about it Greed, after all, you'll be headed to a much darker place."

Heat pooled under his boots, and a bright orange glow struck the form of his body. He smelled smoke and ash, and realized he would soon be a part of it. A sweat drop trailed off the side of his face, but he managed to joke, "Talk about cheesy…"

"Return to me, Greed!"

"If you say so…but don't blame me when you get a stomachache! You did it to yourself!"

The vat slowly closed in, until the tips of his shoes touched intense lava. He did scream, much like those screams he heard in the tunnels back in the Devil's Nest, but despite his painful cries, there only remained a single thought in his mind.

_Zeal if you get kitten killed I swear I will fucking come back to haunt you._

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Come on, lazy ass, WAKE UP!"

"I don't wanna."

"You can't stay here! If teacher finds you she'll kill you! Worst of all, she'll kill _me!"_

Catalena pulled the covers over her mouth, only staring listlessly out into the morning light through the window, "Blah."

Edward, already groomed and dressed in his stylish red cloak, clenched his teeth and fists, pouncing on the bed and grabbing a hold of the older figure's shoulders. Damn, she felt like dead weight the way he attempted to shake her awake, "WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP! We're going to miss the train!"

"Uh, yeah, you can sleep on the train, if you want!" Alphonse proposed, holding one of his hands in the air timidly. Unlike Edward, Alphonse could relate to her predictable nature as of late.

As Edward's small figure was sitting on top of her, the woman slowly brushed the blonde boy away, causing him to shriek a little, before she met red eyes with glowing ones, "…Okay."

"What, so you listen to him and not me?"

She just wasn't a morning person, and thanks to Zeal, she hadn't gotten much more than four hours of sleep.

…

Catalena crossed her arms over her chest, seated in the seat across the two Elric brothers. For now, she would wear Zeal's late choice in clothing, since there was no way she could go back to the Devil's Nest for her own.

The train slowly kicked up speed; the woman could see the smoke trail across the peaks of the window frames. Looking out into the Dublith train station, she spotted two people: a large, dark looking man and a woman with dreadlocks, waving towards their window.

"Brother, look, it's teacher and Sig!"

Edward Elric and Alphonse peered out towards the window, with wide grins on their faces (Well, Edward), as they waved at these friends of theirs, Catalena supposed.

She had a most indifferent and independent appearance; her red eyes watched with solace at the scene she envied entirely.

Even more, behind that scene—those people, was the place she was born in and knew everything about. All of its interesting perks and people, all blown away in a cloud of engine smoke. She decided all that had to be left behind; she was running from the past.

_But how long can you run before it comes back to haunt you?_

Save for their relations with people, she and these boys had no homes to return to. It was sort of pitiful, they being children and she, an adult. Catalena immediately turned her head from the stretching bodies of the two, instead pinching her eyes shut in hopes for blissful sleep. She wouldn't hurt herself by thinking about it. Her choices were made, and there was naught she could do about it now except accept.

…

"_What do you want from me? My brains? My body?"_

"_That's thinking too small."_

"_So what, then?"_

"_I want everything you are."_

…

Crimson eyes flashed awake, and acknowledged the floor of a moving train. Catalena lifted her gaze to the two napping boys in front of her. Well, Alphonse looked occupied, staring out into the window like that.

Recalling the memory that caused her to stir awake, Catalena looked away from the both of their beings, trying to hide a smile to herself, "…Now I remember the words that followed immediately after that; the thing about your response being cheesy."

_Hey! Hey, I saw that! You smiled! Don't try to hide it._

Consider her dreams crushed right in front of her as her lips parted in astonishment. Catalena squeezed her upper arms, since they were crossed; she felt a stress mark form on her temple, "Quiet. You realize that there are people around and I don't want to look foolish."

There was a whistle on the other end,

_Heeeey, **you're **the one on the outside, not me! Anything **you **do isn't **my **problem!_

Catalena, however flustered, struggled to retain a smirk, "So what if I had myself arrested? Is that your problem or are you going to lie to me and say you wouldn't care spending an eternity with me in a jail cell?"

_I'd just break us out, of course. Then I'll show you the brighter and livelier side of the world._

Once her eyes opened, she sighed, "…You're so predictable."

_I'd like to see you say that to my face._

"Considering your true face isn't ugly."

_It's prettier than yours._

"Now you're just being childish."

_It means having a personality; you should try it for once._

For once, Catalena could not muster a retort. That and the armored Elric brother appeared to be observing her. The woman noticed him, and failed at trying to play it off,

"Good morning Alphonse! What are you doing awake?"

"It's afternoon and I can't sleep. Were you talking to Zeal again?"

Staring at his stoic figure for a second, the woman swallowed hard before turning away again, "…Yes. She creeps up on me and harasses me. So I can't help but try to fight back."

"It's sort of funny. Zeal isn't that bad, is she?"

Her cheeks felt hot while she replied, in an almost forced tone, "She's…pleasant…to be around." After hearing a laugh in the confines of her consciousness, Catalena blatantly added, "When comparing her to the other homunculi."

"So, does she know them or not?" Alphonse inquired, tolerating Edward's head, which leaned against his cold shoulder.

Eyebrows raised, Catalena replied, "Know them? No. Right now, I think it's safe to assume she hates them. And that's sort of funny: at first she wanted to seek them out the first chance she had, because Zeal is just as lost as I am."

"Zeal seems more like a human than the rest of them, " Alphonse's metallic voice, which always sounded cold without actually meaning it, felt cold just for this once.

"…Yes. But Greed wasn't so bad either."

_Wasn't so bad? Is that your way of telling someone your feelings for them? No wonder you're twenty-two and single!_

Catalena blushed real hard, before clenching her fists and shouting, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

That's the story of the train ride to Rush Valley.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Winry, this is Cat. Cat, this is Winry," Edward pulled the two females by their shoulders together, even though both of them stood taller than him. He stretched as far as he could.

The perky blonde smiled warmly, wiggling her fingers in substitute for a formal wave, "It's Winry Rockbell. Nice to meet you! I work as an automail mechanic for Mr. Garfiel."

With her mouth slightly open due to the kindness that was practically radiating off of this blonde, Catalena lifted her hand out in front of her for a shake, "…Um, Catalena Artenie. No one calls me Cat."

The girl was wearing a black tube top with baggy pants and a green sweater tied around her hips. On her head was a green bandana, and Catalena could already tell she was either A) automail mechanic or B) tomboy. She could be right in both ways, considering the girl lived in Rush Valley.

Winry giggled before shifting her attention towards the two quiet boys in the background. Resting her hand on her hips she voiced, "Sooo! How do you three know each other? Don't tell me these two asked you out on a date or something."

"Whaaat? No way! She's like twenty-something, Winry. Geez, don't get so presumptuous," Edward thoughtlessly whined, shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay, fine! But why are you two back from Dublith so soon? Did you find your teacher?" The girl asked, looking cooperative and less frightening.

"We did, and I got my memories back. So the trip wasn't for nothing!" Alphonse added, trying his hardest to keep Winry from trying to dig any deeper into the subject.

"That's great, Al! So you two know where you're headed for next?"

This is when Edward's ego deflated and he looked as translucent as the ghost he was going to become while he rubbed the back of his neck, "You see…I'm going to need a few more repairs on my automail…" The blonde slowly raised his right arm, showing broken wires and missing plates. Catalena easily spotted the result of Greed's own work.

She was sort of relieved to see some form of memento from her friend, yet at the same time feeling pitied as this Winry Rockbell girl proceeded to fly into a rage with a wrench.

…

The girl looked so busy and fulfilled, completely content with herself, watching the odd, frilly man instruct her on whatever mechanism was laid out before the two of them.

Catalena only sat and watched from her seat at a dining table near an open window.

The four of them split up after Winry fixed Ed's automail in a feat of rage. The latter whom retreated with his brother to cool off their heads and get some lunch, leaving Catalena in Winry's care.

She was far from talkative, but Winry didn't seem to mind.

While resting her head on her entwined fingers, she failed to notice the two had finished an automail leg they were preparing together.

"Wow, Winry! That looks so good! You got like, loads better!"

"Do you really think so, Mr. Dominic? Thanks!" Squeaks and giggles from a teenaged girl and a middle-aged man. To Catalena's chagrin, the blonde girl turned to smile at her, "Hey, Miss Catalena! Can I ask what your work is, if you have any?"

_This girl is a little too bubbly for my tastes._

"…I'm an information broker," Winry's smiling face slowly turned flat, but Catalena saved the day, "…But not a criminal or anything! I try to help whoever needs valuable information, and that's how I met your friend."

A relieved sigh escaped Winry's lips. She must've been worried the two brothers got themselves caught in the underworld of Amestris for a second there.

Oh, how accurate she was…

"Whew! I was about to beat them for being so reckless again. You know this is like the fifth time he's come to be to fix his automail?"

"Who? Edward?"

"Yes! Those two boys always get into fights. I wouldn't be surprised if they came home tonight with a broken arm again," Winry rubbed her temple, but luckily for her, Garfiel came for comfort.

It must be nice having someone look out for you. Catalena started to wonder if this young girl had any parents, but she didn't feel it was right to ask. For the record, she reminded the woman of Cain.

She wondered if he was dead or alive. But how would she ever know?

"Well! Me and Mr. Dominic are heading out to fetch some supplies!"

"Hey, are you going to be okay all by your self like this~?"

Catalena had a habit of forgetting those around her. If the homunculi ever came after her, she would be such an easy target.

"I'll be fine."

_Could you head upstairs to the guest room? I think I need to catch some shuteye._

Right after the two humans left, Catalena cradled her head in her arms across the table, eyebrows furrowed, "I thought you didn't need to sleep."

_It doesn't mean I can't try. What else am I supposed to do? Waiting around here is soooo boring! I can't believe you agreed to hang out with those two brats!_

"What else can I do, Zeal? They may just be boys who are trying to regain their lost bodies, but who am I? What am I trying to do? The least I can do is help them, right?"

_Don't lie to yourself. You're too greedy to be that selfless. You're seeing something in these kids, and you're going to use them. That's it—there's_ **nothing personal.**

The table began to shake under her arms, and she could hear some unrecognizable sound crackle through the atmosphere. Catalena lifted her head, and Zeal fell quiet for once. She had two choices:

1) Go outside and check out the loud noises, or  
>2) Go to bed.<p>

Obliging to Zeal's wishes, Catalena hit two. Not only was she tired, but also she didn't want to admit just how right Zeal was.

She traipsed up the stairs, almost dragging her dress shoes along the way.

_Or is it that you sympathize with them?_

**.**

**.**

**.**

She was an office nightmare—a ballpoint pen menace.

Catalena found a container of said pens in a random nightstand drawer, and was currently flinging them at the only entry door. Whoever dared walk in would be welcomed with a hail of pens in their face (or she would miss entirely, be it Edward who walked in).

_This what you do for fun?_

The _klunk klunk_ against the wood surface of the door caused the sounds of Zeal's voice as well as footsteps along stairs to fade.

But Catalena could still hear them.

She couldn't stop tossing the pens against the door for some unknown, nostalgic reason.

The lean, tall figure stood in the doorway, the ballpoint pens conflicted against his bare chest as she relentlessly hailed them.

Oh my God, what if it's Garfiel!

In the midst of her realization, she couldn't process his face or that he had fallen to the ground, cradling his head.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Something hit me on the head! I'm bleeding! Save me, Fu! Lan Fan!"

Catalena stretched her upper body far enough so that she could peer over the foot of the bed. She secretly wished she hadn't, though.

_Holy shit, it's the squinty brat again._

Whoever Ling Yao called for wouldn't come, so Catalena had to bring it upon herself to rush to his aid. Throwing her legs and the pens across the width of the bed, she knelt beside his crouched figure, "You okay?"

He was holding his stricken head, and she could see he hadn't changed even though it had only been about two weeks since they last seen each other. She felt kind of happy to see him, "Yeah, I'm fine…I thought you struck blood, but I guess I was wrong~"

"..."

Ling lifted his gaze, and stopped rubbing his head immediately, "…Wait…you're—"

"Ling Yao?"

"No—_I'm_ Ling. You're Zeal!" The Xingese prince pointed towards Catalena's face, and she slowly backed off until standing up completely.

"That's not what I—"

Before she knew it, the boy pulled her into a tight hug, which she was unable to react accordingly to. She wouldn't know how, but Zeal did.

_WHAT THE HELL IS THIS! Bastard! That's my body you're hugging!_

Catalena, wide-eyed, saw fit to only return the hug to this young boy, almost like a mother would. She didn't know why he was hugging her, but she felt he needed it for some reason.

"I can't believe I found you! You know, after our last encounter, when you told me you were a homunculus—I looked into it, and it turns out Catalena actually made my wish come true!" Ling pulled away, keeping a firm grip on the slightly shorter woman in front of him.

Catalena only raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

Ling did look like his dreams had just come true. Without her noticing, he grabbed her wrist, pulling the woman towards the door, "Come on, let's get out of here!"

_ASDFGHJKLL—!_

As he led her down the stairs, Catalena threw questions at him, "Wait, what are you doing? Where did you come from? How did I grant your wish?"

Halfway down the stairs, Ling looked just as confused as she was, looking each other dead in the eyes, "…Wait…you're not Zeal anymore?"

"No, I'm Catalena now."

"…Where's Zeal?"

"She's still here."

His flat expression was easily replaced with a smile as he continued to lead her down the long trail of stairs, "Let's go, then! Lan Fan and Fu will be outside."

"Answer my questions!"

Once they got to the feet of the stairs, and Ling was about to head out the exit, a voice reprimanded him,

"Hold it right there! Ling! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The two realized it was Edward who was speaking, and that Alphonse, Winry, and Garfiel were also dumbstruck as they watched the Xingese prince make off with the human-based homunculus.

Wait. Human-based homunculus=homunculus=Philosopher's Stone=immortality.

That's it! That's why Ling wants Catalena to go with him! She slowly tried to wrench his grip away from her wrist, but that grip held all of his ambition and struggles.

Ling looked ignorant and harmless as he playfully replied, "Oh, I'm just taking Catalena here on a trip to Xing! We'll be back before you know it, Ed~!"

"Cut the crap! I know exactly why you want to take her with you, but guess what idiot prince—I WON'T ALLOW THAT!" Edward launched forward, snagging Catalena's free hand. She felt the sleeves of her black blazer stretch as the two boys ensued in a tug of war match and hissing.

"She's staying here with us! She already agreed to it!"

"We had a deal! She's coming with me to Xing!"

Alphonse moved forward to stop them, Catalena never had this much attention in forever, Winry was laughing and Garfiel was joining her, Fu was watching, and Lan Fan looked about ready to tear Edward's head off.

Now what would Zeal do?

…

Red, almost electric-like tendrils slashed across their hands. Ling and Ed stared with wide eyes as Zeal displayed an example of her power: to amplify the abilities of whoever's body she is in. Thanks to the Philosopher's Stone, those same abilities are strengthened.

Ling immediately let go of Zeal's wrist, causing Edward to plummet forward and to also release his grip. The boy took a moment to squirm on the ground as the red light subsided. Then he lifted his gaze from Catalena's dress shoes to glowing, sadistic looking eyes.

"…Crap. You're Zeal now, aren't you?"

The human-based homunculus, which appeared the same as before except her facial expression was malicious, straightened out the wrinkles in her blazer, "…Yep. What's it to you, kid?" After acknowledging the Elric boy, Zeal tried to cover a yawn with her hand.

Edward's face smashed against the floor in defeat, "Damn it. Could you please go back to being Cat again? I would really appreciate it."

_I agree. I don't like it when you surprise me like this._

Zeal's red slits looked away from all of the amazed faces in the room—those who could finally observe a homunculus in live action. Though two of those faces in the room, hadn't a clue about anything.

"What's going on, Ed!" Winry demanded, watching Zeal poke the boy with the heel of her shoe. Garfiel only held his chin, pursing his lips and watching in amazement.

Edward propped himself upward, trying and failing at explaining things to Winry, "You see Winry, there's this theory about artificial humans, called a homunculus and—"

"So you really are a homunculus…" Ling said quietly, watching Zeal place her hands within her blazer pockets.

The former turned her attention towards the taller Ling Yao, and anyone could tell she disliked him, "I did tell you that before, didn't I? And after all this time, you still have this thing about touching my body without permission. You really are rude. Who do you think you are?"

Edward and Alphonse both gasped, but Alphonse was the only one to have the breath to speak, "Y-you two have met before?"

"If you're the Zeal from before, then I'll have to introduce myself formally. My name is Ling Yao; I am the 12th prince of the Emperor of Xing. You see, I asked the human side of you for help on claiming a Philosopher's Stone, which she agreed to. I see that she succeeded, though it cost her control of her body," Ling pressed his palms together in front of him, bowing formally.

"…"

"I apologize for that…but can you still come with me? You're exactly what I need to become Emperor."

Zeal didn't look at all convinced, "Why should I do that? What's in it for me?"

"You can live an eternity by my side~!"

"But I hate you! So. Much."

Edward butted between the two, facing Ling. "She's with us, Ling, and that's that. If you want her, then I guess you're going to have to come with us."

Ling proceeded to wrap his arms around Edward, falsely affectionately (More like a housecat).

"Then I guess I'll just have to stay with you two until she does~!"

Zeal was quite happy Ling's hug missed her.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

And Winry and Garfiel were confused, "Um? Seriously, guys, what's a 'homunculus'?"

**.**

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So this is what happens if a random Homonculus was given to Edward during the events of Episode 15, FMAB.

A little break from seriousness. The whole situation seemed pretty awkward, and I know—Catalena's character is slowly changing. I'm not asking you to pity her or anything, but just put yourself in her position.

That is, if you don't understand all this text I'm throwing at you~

Thank you and oh my god I smell onions

MERRY CHRISTMASSSSS!

May I have a review for Christmas? COLON D

:D


	10. Mutuality

**A/N: **BLARGH. ALL OF THIS GOODNESS AND PURITY I'VE BEEN READING/WRITING HAS GIVEN ME A STOMACHACHE. I am so happy to be returning to this story. Sigh. NOW I GET TO WRITE FOR ZEAL AGAIN, HOO-RAH!

So, I'm going to tell you guys a very, very, deep, dark secret of mine…

…At the end of this chapter. In return, I ask to reach 100 reviews! (Or more. That'd be awesome!)

If I've done my addition correctly, that's only 9 reviews I need from generous reviewers! It'll be the first time I've ever reached 100 reviews. Lame, huh?

But please, help me on my conquest. :D

If I reach 100 reviews before my designated update time, I'll update Rapacious even sooner. It'll be like, an achievement for you and me! A reward for such hard workers!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. Nor do I own the lyrics to "Again". Yui owns that. If I owned any of those, well, I'm quite the greedy fellow, aren't I? I'm always asking for things.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Rapacious<em>**

**_._**

_I want to be honest and reveal more…_

_I want to escape from something…_

_…__Is it reality? |_

**.**

**Chapter 10**

Mutuality

**.**

"_So you're heading to Central for more information? Just what more of that do you need? You're making me feel inferior."_

"_How am I making you feel inferior?"_

"_Worthless. Useless. I'm an information broker and information's the thing you need. Why don't you just ask me what you're hungering for? I'm specialized in the Amestrian underworld, after all. Just pay me."_

"_That's exactly why. Besides, there are just some things even a smart ass like you wouldn't know."_

"_Oh, _**_I'm _**_the smart ass? You little runt…"_

"_Zeal, I know that's you, so shut up!"_

**…**

Edward and Alphonse headed for Central Command. Catalena didn't dare show her face there for reasons only she could know. Winry headed to some "Hughes" family's house. Ling and his lackeys were nowhere to be found, although she might have caught a glimpse of a pair of officers dragging off a familiar-looking boy during one of her hours in Central.

That's right, she was touring Central. She'd never been there before, although Cain had sometimes had to transfer temporarily to Command. She couldn't say that she ever wanted to come either. The place was too big, and she couldn't keep a somewhat God-like eye on everything like she could in Dublith.

Zeal was also giving her a migraine. The homunculus was the opposite of her: amazed, surprised, and excited. Whenever they'd pass something interesting or eye-catching, Zeal would want to do something drastic or moronic like, "Ooh, let's rob a bank or something; that'd be fun" or "hey, let's try some pies".

Catalena was sick of it. And she was sick of Zeal.

_Hm…your irritation nerve is tingling. Is the squinty-eyed brat within a 12-meter radius of you? If so, I'll kick his ass—_

The woman chuckled, as she walked through the lively crowd. It was funny that Zeal thought she was annoyed with Ling, when it was actually she. Even when people gave Catalena disgusted looks it didn't refrain her from speaking to Zeal, "Oh, stop playing around. You don't hate Ling as much as you pretend to."

_The hell you talking about, "pretending"? I hate his guts._

"For what reason?"

…_I can't remember it now, but there is certainly a reason._

"Right…"

_There is! Look, it's just…he always has his hands on you!_

Catalena stopped on the side of the street, amazed and dumbfounded. What did Zeal just say? "…Repeat?"

_He acts like you're his possession or something, like he has the right to take you to his country for his own benefits. It…it pisses me off to no end._

At first Catalena didn't find anything suspicious about Zeal's reasoning, but then a thought hit her. Smirking, the human teased the homunculus, "That sounds an awful lot like Greed, didn't you dislike him for that reason as well? Oh. You miss him so you're replacing your hatred for him with Ling, is that it?"

_HELL NO. I am sick of homunculi! Remember what I said before what happened at Dublith? Forget that. Forget all of it. The only person I trust is you, Catalena._

Despite the fact that Zeal had just confessed her feelings for Catalena, the woman remained ignorant and teased her other side further, "…So…you were jealous. I didn't think Zeal could get possessive of me."

_Possessive…I'm in your freaking body, Catalena. Or are you purposely setting me up for these comments of yours?_

"I just want to see the side of you nobody else can."

And she said it so simply. Perhaps Catalena really was getting over her friends' deaths. That would be all thanks to Zeal; the supposed cause of those losses. The human could admit that if Zeal also disappeared…

…Well, she didn't know how she could continue on…

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Is it just me, or does something feel weird about this place?" Lifting her head towards the orange sky, Catalena inquired the conscience inside of her. It was Central City that was gnawing at her insides. It felt like some sort of calling-to the homunculus inside of her.

_Is that how you feel? It's strangely inviting to me._

"…Seriously. Something…doesn't feel…right," the human's gaze drifted to the ground, as if she could see through the blacktop beneath her dress shoes. There was something beneath them, beneath everyone in Central. It felt…overwhelming, too.

_Maybe it's an earthquake. I wouldn't worry about it._

Catalena's expression went deadpan, "…You sure are arrogant. If it really were an earthquake, what insane, diabolical plan would you propose?"

_The thing about zeal is excitement, adrenaline. When I find myself pushed to a corner, even I can't understand what homunculus-y powers I can achieve._

"Sounds like something someone from the east would write." **(MANGAKA)**

After her stereotypical assumption, Catalena's keen sense of obnoxiousness tingled. Her ears also picked up on a masculine voice, one that had yet to reach puberty. Her red eyes narrowed. There was only one person she knew who was obnoxious and…young.

As she turned to face Edward and the loud clang of armor racing behind the child, she noticed the grim and sorrowful feeling on his face. Her own dropped, and she attempted not to tease him.

"Edward. Why so glum?"

First the two young boys were quiet. It could have been because they were catching their breath, but…

"Something came up," as the blonde said this, he refused to meet Catalena's stagnant stare. After a few tantalizing moments, Edward faced the taller human again, "Come with us. There's someone I want you to meet."

Even if both Zeal and Catalena fed the Elrics confused looks, the boys proceeded without hearing any complaints. Before leaving with his brother, Alphonse shot as much of a sympathetic look as a boy trapped in armor ever could.

Which made Catalena and Zeal all the more curious.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The time of day was at a point when the sun was almost gone completely: twilight. Catalena had taken notice of this scene before, though it was raining that dreadful day. But as she stood in front of this homey looking household, the human-based homunculus had a feeling there was a sunny side to this twilight.

Edward and Alphonse both knocked on the door, while Catalena stood by the stairwell. Door mechanics reached her ears, and she watched a shorthaired woman answer the door. There was a smile on her face as she greeted her visitors, "Edward, Alphonse. It's great to see you two again. Are you here for Winry?" Her words held not much meaning, and even Catalena could see the smile was pained.

From behind the boys the homunculus could not see the look that was given to the lady. That of which responded with wide, almost glassy eyes. Catalena knew that look. It was loss and defeat; hopelessness. Not too long ago, someone reminded her how poor a confident soul like her looked with that sort of expression.

"…So…you know already, then."

"Mrs. Hughes…"

"Gracia."

"I'm sorry…Miss Gracia," just faintly, Catalena could see Edward clench his fists and begin to shake, "…it's all my fault. If I wasn't so persistent and minded my own business like a kid should have, then Hughes wouldn't have—"

Catalena heard sobbing. Tears that were trying to be held back but failed. She knew that feeling, too. "Now, now, Edward, why are you making such a depressed face?" The brown-haired woman smiled at the two boys, gesturing for them to come in.

Catalena watched quietly from the staircase, remaining unseen.

"Why don't you come inside? It's warmer in here."

The two Elrics followed Miss Hughes inside, and as soon as the homunculus heard the door lock she made her way to the surface of it. Pressing her back against the door, she crossed her arms, at first hearing nothing but silence.

…

"Hughes died helping you. You can't just give up and blame yourself. That would mean my husband died in vain," a tone that was so full of determination and life; Catalena felt inspired by this woman.

Her husband's life was stolen away from him, and despite that the cause of it were sitting right in front of her, this woman would not fly into a rage. Instead, she urged for these boys to strive for more.

Catalena waited patiently on the outside of the door, just listening to the conversation. She wondered why Edward would bring her here before, but now she may have just realized.

He wanted her to see that her troubles weren't everything.

Even Zeal fell quiet. Perhaps the homunculus truly did have a heart. That or she was just sleeping. Catalena presumed the last possibility.

Near her ears, the door unlocked, and Catalena pushed herself off of the door. There was a little girl standing there, holding the door against her body very timidly. Her hair was up in pigtails, and she was watching Catalena with two, large bright blue eyes.

The older female's face of surprise and confusion was the result of her inexperience with children.

Catalena didn't need to do anything, though. The girl just said in her squeaky voice,

"…Not daddy. It's just a man, mommy."

Zeal started laughing within the consciousness of both their minds, and the human side of the two only displayed an offended grimace. She couldn't hit a kid, right? That'd be wrong. She couldn't even yell at her, much less troll.

Hastily the woman referred to as 'mommy' came bursting towards the door at the mention of a strange man estranged on their doorstep. But what Gracia saw was not a man, but a shorthaired woman with red eyes. A smile spread on her pale face, "Oh, I'm sorry. My daughter is a fan of long hair…"

Catalena couldn't smile. It was too awkward for her. From behind the form of the Hughes she saw Edward and Alphonse and silently pleaded for help. They didn't notice her right away, "…It's fine. I'm usually complimented for my appearance." There was a crook in the homunculus' smile.

Then Edward came over, "Cat. Did you hear all of that?"

Her red eyes focused on the shorter figure, "…Yeah. Is that why you brought me here?"

There was a subtle nod, and then Edward rested his hands on the shoulders of that small child, Elicia.

"This is who I wanted you to meet. Her name is Elicia Hughes," Edward's mouth remained opened, like he was going to say more, but he stopped, "…I think you need to talk to her."

Catalena was astonished, like she didn't want anything to do with the girl. That was the truth, but then two, sparkly blue eyes were watching her. The owner of those eyes also surprised Catalena. It wasn't the little girl, Elicia.

It was Winry.

After the few days she'd spent with Miss Rockbell, she seemed like a girl who wouldn't let anything get her down. She had admirable willpower and determination for a normal human. Catalena actually liked that in her.

To see her crumble like this, all because of the death of someone who wasn't even actual family to her. Catalena could now see the relationships between humans; that of which did not have to involve blood or love.

The human-based homunculus sighed, gazing down at Elicia, who was just as dumbfounded as she was, "…All right…"

…

"…"

The girl was quiet as they sat in her room alone. She had two figures in her hand, a man and a woman. There was also a smaller doll between the two on the floor in front of her, that of which resembled a small girl.

Catalena blinked. Their daughter.

Elicia did not speak to Catalena, and she did the same. It was awkward, and she did not know how Elicia felt, but now she began to wonder what Edward wanted to benefit between the two of them.

At this point, she really wished Zeal wasn't sleeping. Zeal was offensive, but she was much more social than Catalena would ever be.

The fact remained that if she didn't do anything, she'd be spending the night there due to Edward's stubbornness.

"…Um…You're Elicia, right?"

"Uh-huh," the girl rang as she played with the dolls. Judging from the sound of her voice, she didn't sound bothered by the older woman's presence. Catalena smiled. What a sweet girl. "…What's your name?"

"Catalena," she finished, not bothering to give the child her last name.

Upon hearing the homunculus' name, Elicia looked up from her toys. She had a look of awe before grinning wide, "Catalena! That sounds like a girl's name."

The older woman glanced down at her chest before nervously reassuring the girl, "Ha, well I am a girl…"

She didn't have a problem with her figure. Did Elicia not know the differences between genders? Should she tell her? God, she wasn't good with kids.

"It sounds something like a cat. Like a kitten! Meow!" She giggled and curled her tiny hands by her head like when a cat was doing that nasty thing with their tongue and paws.

And yet, the older woman found herself laughing along with the child, "Haha, 'kitten' you said?"

Elicia now had found a tiny plastic cat from the toy box beside her, lifting it up for Catalena to see, "See? Kitty cat!"

Her soft laughter died out, and she stared at the toy with curiosity. Elicia allowed her to hold the toy, and it dropped in her palm. It was an orange tabby cat, and an adult to boot.

"Um, Elicia, you don't have any toy kittens for the mommy?" She blinked, contemplating, "…Or is this a boy cat?"

The little human took a glance at her aluminum box, giving it a shake before informing Catalena, "…Hm, nope, it' a girl cat, just like you! I lost the daddy cat and the kittens." Despite admitting her loss, she giggled, certainly having fun with the extra company.

Catalena laughed humorlessly. She laughed so that the child could laugh, too. As she stared at the plastic toy cat in her pale hands, she began to understand why Edward wanted her to talk to the girl.

Lowering her hand, she watched Elicia play with the mommy, the daddy, and the girl dolls again. After hearing the entire ordeal about the Hughes family from behind the apartment door, Catalena couldn't help but stare at the father figure Elicia held tightly in her hands.

Cautiously, Catalena inquired, "…Did you try to find the daddy cat?"

"…Well I…I did, but…I gave up after I tried so hard."

"…Gave up? You shouldn't do that."

Elicia pursed her lips and puffed out her cheek. Frustration was eminent on her baby face, "But I can't find them!"

Catalena, despite being yelled at, displayed a patient look on her own face, "…That doesn't mean you should give up. If you give up on finding them, how do you expect to ever play with them again?"

"…But it's hard…"

"If your daddy gave up on his work, how would he be able to take care of you and your mommy? He has to do it, because nobody else can. He did it because he loves you."

"…"

Holding the toy tightly in her hands, Catalena noticed Elicia start to get red. She must be missing her father. Instead of becoming flustered because she made the girl cry, Catalena came over, wrapping her arms around the child. The whimpering immediately subsided, and she felt tiny hands grasp her larger arms.

Smiling as she spoke, Catalena peered out of the corner of her eyes at the girl who buried her head into her shoulder,

"A boy who lost his mother once told me something, after I asked him a very serious question."

"…W-what did you ask?"

"…I asked him, how can someone who's given up on life continue on living?"

"…"

"You're too young to understand a part of that question, but he looked at me with this face…and he replied..."

"…"

"You don't."

**[1]**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry were standing outside the Hughes' apartment door. They all had their bags, so as Catalena walked out of Elicia's room, she realized they wouldn't be staying there. It was dark; if they were going to get a hotel room, they'd have to get on the move.

"I'm sorry if I kept you guys waiting. Elicia wanted to play with…toys," the older woman nervously stated, feeling a little awkward admitting that.

Edward, who seemed to like screwing with her, tried his best to grin, "That's okay. Hopefully you learned something. Maybe she taught you how to play nice for once."

"That's you-know-who's job."

The two rivals glared at each other, deadly and playfully.

Miss Gracia stood by the doorway, looking as sophisticated and calm as ever, "I'm sorry Elicia isn't here to say goodbye. She's holed herself up in her room."

Alphonse finally spoke up for once tonight, "That's okay. Just tell her we said good-bye."

"Take care, Miss Gracia," Winry spoke up. When Catalena glanced at the blonde girl, she had a sense of dejection about her.

"Goodbye Winry, Edward, Alphonse…oh…" the woman stopped at Catalena, as if she struggled to remember her name, "…and you're—"

"Kitten! Kitten! Where are yoooouuuu!"

A strange sensation over her body caused Catalena to instantly jerk at the familiar name, but her hopes died out once she saw a little girl gasping at the doorway beside her mother.

"Kitten…? Is that your name, miss?" Gracia had softly asked.

The homunculus crouched before Elicia, replying to her mother, "I'm sorry, Miss Hughes; it's Catalena Artenie," she then looked at Elicia again, "What is it, Elicia?"

With an accomplished smirk, the girl thrust her hand out in front of her. Catalena's eyes popped once they noticed two plastic cat toys settled in the middle of her tiny palm.

Her heart skipped a beat, but the words found their way through her lips, "…Is that the daddy cat?"

She giggled out loud and nodded, "Yep! You told me not to give up, so I tried again and found him! It was in my sock drawer."

Catalena tilted her head to the side, feeling slightly embarrassed but thankful. She smiled, "…Well, now you can play with it."

"Nope! You can play with it," without warning, Elicia dropped the boy cat into her hand.

"Eh?"

"Now every time you look at that cat, you can stop feeling lonely and remember when you played with me today. Oh, and when you lose something, you'll remember to check your sock drawer!"

Catalena stared at the honest girl, but then sighed, giving up. Her smile contorted into a frown, though, "Okay…but why do I get the boy cat?"

"Because you're old and you need to marry someone! Just like mommy did!"

Catalena made a sound of offense and shock, just as Edward, Alphonse, and even Winry—despite their depressed dispositions—stifled laughter and chuckles.

Gracia at this point took command of her child, and apologized, "I'm sorry if she was any trouble."

"It was no problem."

"Alright. Thank you, Miss Artenie," Gracia tilted her head over the other woman, looking at the three teenagers in the background, "You three, watch out for each other."

"We will," they had said something similar to this in unison.

"Bye Ed! Bye Al! Bye Winry and Cat!" The enthusiastic waves of Elicia came into song with her mother's before the two closed the door behind them. The remaining four stepped out of the building and began walking in the dark along the streets of Central.

"…So…what was all of that about 'giving up'?" Edward sneered from beside Catalena.

Trying to hide the blush on her face, Catalena retorted, "You should take lessons from her, judging from the way you were crying."

"…"

"It's a serious thing, I know. Don't take it as offensive. We've all lost people we cared about."

Edward looked away from her, the scowl on his face disappearing, "…Yeah. Okay."

"It looks like you taught Cat a lesson today, brother."

"Ha, oh, yeah, I did! Next time you should be more appreciative."

"I am. But maybe you should start comforting Winry instead of me. You do care about her, right?" The homunculus took note of the red on Edward's face, and when she glanced behind her, she faintly caught a trace of a rosy complexion on the other female's face as well.

**.**

**.**

**.**

_What a cool hotel room. Did you rent it with your own money, or did the two Elric brats offer it for you?_

Seated on the comforter of the freshly scented bed, Catalena folded her legs against her chest, looking out the window. She had the lights off, so the only light being emanated was from the few stars that scattered across the dark sky.

"They offered for me to stay with Winry, but I've had enough of awkwardness for today."

…_Oh, yes, so I've heard. You might have thought I was sleeping, but I've told you before; homunculi don't sleep._

"They don't eat either, and yet when we were walking around Central you wanted a taste of everything tangible."

_Hey, I've done you a favor today and was silent for at least 12 hours. Can't you stop attacking me with words?_

"Am I hurting you, homunculus? With my _words?_"

_Not really. I'm actually just entertaining you until the time comes when I take over your body again. This time, without the drama and annoying emotions. _

Catalena felt her blood rise, "…Take over my body again? When? What do you mean?"

_Did you think I relinquished control willingly? My Philosopher's Stone needed a rest. Wrath did a lot of shit to me back there. I was just healing…in fact, now is the greatest time to slip back into control. You're not depressed anymore._

"How about back when we met Ling again? You took over for a while…does that mean you could have done it whenever you want?"

_Cat, I've been fully capable of taking you over since we got to Rush Valley. It's just that…I wanted to find the perfect time. That's all._

Catalena listened to the metallic, ghost-like voice inside of her. Sharing an entity and a subconscious, she tried to guess what feelings Zeal was undergoing.

"…You remember before everyone died at Dublith…when you were on the rooftop and you confessed to me what you thought of Greed…and your goals."

…_Don't remind me._

"…You said you wanted to find the homunculi…then after you fought Wrath, you decided you hated them. Does this mean you're not sure what you want to do anymore?"

…

"I thought you had a plan for everything, Zeal. Either that, or you're just being stubborn and introverted."

…_I'm really jealous of you, Catalena. You weren't created without a purpose._

The human laughed, listening to the sounds of crickets on the outside of her window.

"…_Is that what you think of me?"_

.

**.**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>[1] – <strong>At the end of chapter 8, I ended it with Catalena asking Alphonse one more question. That was the question.

So…I love penguins. I just saw one waddle. So. Cute.

And no, that's not my deepest, darkest secret.

I'm an open person, so you can assume my secrets aren't very deep or dark judging from the average drama queen.

Anyway, my secret is I have this unhealthy obsession with toothpaste.

Really.

Toothpaste is so good. Yeah, you think I'm weird, now. NO, I don't EAT the toothpaste! I'm just really picky when it comes to my toothpaste and I will complain if it's not good! I also put a lot of that stuff on my toothbrush, and I'm very conservative with it as well. My friend Celeste likes it too, so I'm not the only one who likes the burst of minty flavor…

And mouthwash.

I've shared with you my secret~ Now will you help me reach 100 reviews?

By the way, hope you loved the chapter! It was short but, I'm offering to update again as soon as I finally reach 100 reviews. Also, THANK YOU NEW REVIEWERS! I WELCOME MORE OF YOU. BY THE MOTHERLOAD.

Je t'aime.

* * *

><p><strong>OH AND<strong> **HEY I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS.**

It may or may not affect the story but,

Who do you like in control better? Zeal or Catalena?

Please give me your honest input!


	11. Desperate Measures

**A/N: **Thank you guys so much for the 100+ reviews. I totally disused your trust when I didn't update sooner like I promised, instead I'm updating like three weeks later. I could blame D. Gray-man but that would mean blaming Lavi. And I don't want to blame Lavi. :P

So if you've kept up with my outrageous profile updates, you'll notice I've recently gotten into D. Gray-man. And no…this is no phase. To add to that pile, I haven't seen ANY good Lavi x OC. In fact, I haven't read one at all. So it's my duty to create one of my own…got it?

The thing is I have too (two) many stories I need to finish. So…I will suffocate myself and finish the stories I have sworn I would complete.

Just a note, this fanfic may be like 20-30 chapters. Rough estimate. Maybe more. Who knows? Truly sorry for updating late.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own FMA or FMAB. Nor do I own the lyrics to "Again" by Yui. I own only my trusty Garchomp, Anraku. It's actually a girl! And girls rock.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Rapacious<em>**

**_._**

_I'll even welcome enemies and allies…_

_So I can open the next door. |_

**.**

**Chapter 11**

Desperate Measures

A dark-haired man strolled through the washroom, self-consciously stroking his chin. It felt rough, as if there were traces of stubble. That meant that Roy had spent enough time digging, and should have spent more time lazing off. But because of the loss of his friend, he felt that the dark circles and facial hair were enough payment.

But still, he really needed to shave.

After grooming himself and leaving nice baby-soft skin, the self-indulged Colonel tiredly walked into his office in Central, covering a yawn as he pushed the door open with only one lazy eye open.

As soon as he did, that one eye was met with two, familiar stoic ones, "Colonel."

"Hawkeye. Were you waiting for me?" Another joke, like all of the other times.

And she returned that annoyed face, hidden behind a mask of apathy along with a change of topic. Just like all of the other times, "Someone's here to see you."

At first Roy lifted his head, anticipating just who might want to meet with him. That was before he quickly, mentally scanned through a list of possible candidate(s).

"If it's Fullmetal, tell him I'm busy—"

"It's not, Sir. He's a representative body from the Fϋhrer himself."

The Colonel stood fast, blinking with a bewildered face before acknowledging what his First Lieutenant just said, "…The Fϋhrer?"

Roy stepped into his room, noticing everyone in his squad (Breda, Fuery, Havoc, and nameless faces) seated formally, saluting. As Hawkeye stepped to the side to allow Roy to meet this mysterious military man, he mentally noted to ask those idiots why the hell they didn't act like this when it was just him around.

Just as the superior officer glared at each of his sweating subordinates, a male voice gathered his full attention.

"This is the first time we've met, Colonel Mustang. As you've might've known, I'm here on behalf of the Fϋhrer."

Roy quietly eyed him before responding. A man slightly younger than him, with hazel eyes and messy black hair that bangs parted at the right looked quite flustered, standing before him as he offered his hand to shake.

Roy raised an eyebrow. What was this? What was the meaning of sending this kid to meet him? Roy blinked.

_Was he a spy?_

"It's nice to meet you. What can I call you?" Roy glanced at the soldier's shoulder, where his rank read "Second Lieutenant". **[1]**

The black-haired man looked away from Roy, face displaying some form of worry. As his hazel eyes traced back to the periodical, he muttered, "I'm Cain. Cain Ashford. I transferred from Dublith."

From first impressions, this boy looked like he couldn't even handle a gun the way he was speaking so timidly to Roy. The older man frowned, trying to cover up laughter at how pitiful of an excuse this "spy" was, "…Um. Okay. So what did you need…Lt. Cain?"

"I honestly don't know. The Fϋhrer arranged my dispatch from Dublith a month ago…but since then, I've only been serving as his personal guard or whatnot. He ordered me to acquaint myself with you, but I don't know the reasons."

_Maybe this was what Hughes was talking about…corruption in the military. This is probably the Fϋhrer's way of keeping an eye on me._

"If you're just here to keep an eye on me, then I suppose we won't have any problems."

A lie.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Bright, vivid orange-colored peels fell down into the alleyway. It might have been considered littering, but Catalena would have argued it was "fertilizing". She popped an orange slice in her mouth, and winced once she found it to be unimaginably sour.

She stuck her tongue out, holding the fruit out the window, "Bleh. This is disgusting. That's the last time I accept offerings from Ed."

_If you want to get on his nerves some more, you can say the fruit matches his mood._

"I wouldn't put it past him. But I understand that that Hughes person was really special to him. To them all," Catalena stared at the alley out from her hotel room window, "…We haven't even spoken much lately since then."

_Where are they, anyway?_

"There was this one night the two of them left the hotel really late. That was the same day we heard that huge explosion. I think maybe something big happened without us noticing."

_Shame. It's all your fault, you damn hermit._

The human scoffed, dropping some more peels into the alleyway and watching them crash into an old puddle, "How is it my fault? Do you really want to get involved with the military again? You damn delinquent."

_Just because you don't want a life doesn't mean everyone else doesn't._

"Are you seriously trying to pick a fight with me? I'll get rid of you right now, Zeal, really, I will."

_Please. If getting rid of me were that easy, you would have done it a long time ago back in Dublith._

"…"

_Ouch, I see I hit a nerve. I thought you were past all of that._

Catalena stared at the windowsill through the slits of her fingers. "It doesn't make it any easier to think about. If there was just one survivor, I think it would make living easier. Because right now, I don't know what I'm fighting for."

_Maybe you should just hand over your body completely…I'll find us something to do._

"You always say that," the human forcefully tossed the fruit in some random direction, scowling, "But you and I both know you're lost too."

Before Zeal could find anything to say back at the human, the both of them heard scratching noises against concrete. Catalena tensed up, glancing around for any explanation.

_Don't tell me Al brought another cat home._

Catalena stared out the window, completely stoic as she answered, "It's not a cat…it's…"

A quiet whimper reached her ears. It was slightly nostalgic, and the human-based homunculus immediately crawled out onto the windowsill, leaning half of her body on the outside.

_W-wait, Cat, this isn't the way to go! I take back everything I said, just don't jump—_

"Shut up, idiot. That thing on the wall…could it be…"

A stout, gray figure hidden beneath a scrappy looking cloak was seated against one of the walls of the alleyway, way below Catalena. He must've been scaling the walls and was struck forcefully down when she tossed the orange.

"Is that…Bido?"

_Bido…hey. Ain't that one of your friends from—HOLY—_

Without warning, Catalena jumped from her position at the window, landing squarely on the ground before the human chimera, which was rubbing his scaly head. The action almost gave Zeal a heart attack. Meanwhile, she might have spotted tears in Bido's eyes, but she didn't care, "Bido! Is that you?"

Once his name was called, the tiny animalistic-being opened his large, watery eyes, "…Miss Artenie! You have no idea how happy I am to see a friendly face like yours!"

_I wish I were in control right now. Then he wouldn't be so happy._

Catalena knelt down in front of the lizard, almost having the urge to hug him. That was before her face cringed and she pinched her nose, "…Say…you kind of stink. Have you taken a bath lately?"

Bido hopped up on his feet, discretely sniffing himself, "…Um…if I said no to that, what would you do?"

Catalena smiled, however crunched up her face was, she found the strength to un-pinch her nose and pat his head lovingly, "I'd pat your head."

At the warm touch, the lizard chimera laughed rather creepily, but then he looked up at her, "What happened to the other homunculus? Where's Zeal?"

"Unfortunately, she's still here. But ever since Dublith, she's been handing me control of my body."

_Out of the few fragments of good I have._

"Really…that's great."

The human tilted her head to the side, wanting to question Bido about the incident, "…Do you know anything about Dublith? I didn't exactly see Greed drop dead for myself."

At the fatal question, Bido fidgeted with his fingers, looking away from Catalena. That made the female much more curious and flustered. Her calm, friendly nature was replaced with a worried, hasty one.

"Bido? Where is Greed? Is he alive? Do you know where he is?"

"Ummm, I didn't really want to tell you, because I knew you'd search for him, Miss Artenie."

Catalena suddenly looked utterly vicious despite displaying no emotion on her serious face, "Bido…"

Fear out threw him, "Um! I saw the one with the eyepatch take Greed's body out of the pub! He said something about 'sending him to meet his Father' so I think he's still alive!"

The blank look on her face was replaced with raw, uncontained emotion. Her red irises widened. She felt her heart and hopes rise. A month of lingering around and following Edward mindlessly, and she was finally offered an alternative in fixing her past.

She could get Greed back…

"I've been looking for him myself, but I haven't had any luck…"

Catalena's open mouth closed, revealing a smile, "…That's okay, Bido. I really can't thank you enough for this information. To tell you the truth, I've had a lot of time on my hands lately."

He opened his mouth in protest, "I've been looking everywhere for you! It took me two weeks to realize you left Dublith!"

_That's because. You, sir, are a dumbass._

She shrugged her shoulders sheepishly, trying to calm her friend down, "I've been following that armored boy around. It's better than sitting in Dublith alone, sulking."

"Maybe, but I would have found you sooner, and initially, we might have found Greed already."

Catalena secretly wished Bido hadn't mentioned Greed again. She couldn't sustain her glee in just hearing that he was probably still alive. Getting everyone else back from Dublith was impossible, but having Greed back was enough for her. She didn't know about Cain and if he was alive, but she thought it easy to find that out since he was part of the military. She just didn't really care about her former childhood friend.

"…Do you have any leads?"

"All I know is he's connected to the Fϋhrer somehow, since he was the last person he was with."

The female immediately lunged for the human chimera, wrapping him in her arms and just hugging him for a few tantalizing moments, "…Thank you Bido. You're one of my few, trusted friends." After which, she released the now red lizard, and smiled at him, "…You might be the only."

_Bleh. Take a shower after this, would you?_

He rubbed his cheek, the blush still occupying his gray, scaly face. After a minute of uncomfortable gazing, Bido exclaimed, "No problem! I'm going to disappear for a while to look into Greed's whereabouts. If I find anything, I'll be sure to come back here!"

Her smiling expression hardened.

"Be sure you do. I'll look into it myself."

With that, Bido pulled his hood over his head, standing up on two clawed feet and scuffling to the end of the alleyway. He paused once he got there, and looked back at Catalena, smiling.

"Goodbye Miss Artenie! I hope one of us finds Greed in the end."

She smirked at the creature, "It'll be me. I'm sure of it."

Bido made a puzzled face, as if he wasn't so sure about that. After one final wave, the human chimera disappeared into the light, and Catalena prayed for his well-being. She couldn't pretend he was her child anymore and shield him from the cops.

Catalena then made her way back into the hotel, the whole time remaining silent and pondering about just where she could find her lost friend, Greed. Zeal had kept quiet the entire time, and Catalena could only wonder why. She inquired the homunculus,

"What's wrong Zeal? Not happy to see Greed again?"

_Told you I didn't like him._

Catalena smiled softly to herself, becoming reminded of the childish side of Zeal, "Can you be happy for me for once? It may be selfish, but having Greed back is greater in comparison than having my body back."

_In my defense, just having your body is enough for me._

The female stopped in front of her hotel room, hand fitted on the knob. It reminded her of when she was standing in front of Warner's door. At that point, she was unaware that that door opened many other doors. She stared at her dress shoes that nudged the bottom of the entrace.

"…Zeal. I may like you…and I may owe my life to you…but having Greed back could be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I need some light in my life, Zeal. Ever since Dublith, I've never been able to see things the same way."

…

"Remember when you called yourself an ass? It's my turn, now. In case you didn't know, all of this happened because of you. What more do you want to leech off of my life, Zeal? I've given you _everything_."

…

Catalena stared at the brown color of the door, holding the knob tightly as she eagerly awaited Zeal's response. She did need Zeal. She needed Zeal to fix the problem the homunculus herself made.

…_Okay. I'll help you find your boyfriend, Cat._

Utterly satisfied to no ends at the homunculus' response, Catalena exhaled a sigh, smiling and twisting the knob. They'd open the next door together; this time, not as two separate beings, but as one, mutual person.

"…Thank you, Zeal."

…_Just remember. I don't like sharing you. I plan on keeping this body as my own forever._

**.**

**.**

**.**

After speaking to Winry about how long his body would last him, the giant armored boy attempted to seclude himself in his hotel room. Closing Winry's door behind him as he left her to sleep, Alphonse cautiously glanced at Catalena's door and Edward's door.

Staring at the surface of his brother's door, Alphonse open-mindedly sighed, "Hm…I wonder when brother's coming back from Resembol."

After shaking his head once, the armored boy turned the handle of his own door, opening it and then hunching over to fit through the frame. Upon entering though, Alphonse found that he was not alone.

A window was wide open, the curtains welcoming the humid, night breeze into his room. On his bed were two visitors, one who had distinct squinty eyes and the other a seemingly permanent scowl on her face.

The smiling eyes one noticed the hulking mass enter the room, and raised his hand in salutation, "Oh, hello, Al! How have you been, buddy?"

"…" Came the silent reaction of the second party member. The familiar red eyes only stared deep within Alphonse's hollow armor, screaming 'help'.

Alphonse slowly closed the door behind him, antagonized and confused as to how and why those two snuck into his room. Okay, so he wasn't that antagonized. But the reasoning behind it all couldn't be pleasant.

"Ling? Catalena? What are you two doing here? And Ling, where've you been?"

"In case you've forgotten, I was recently arrested for being an illegal immigrant…but it's okay now, since I broke out."

"W-wait…you broke out of Central Prison?"

"Oh yeah~ It wasn't that hard! There was this absolute maniac already parading through the place so I thought I tag along," Ling explained with a smile on his face before continuing, "His name was Barry. And he's just like you, Alphonse."

The boy stood in place in front of the door, considering the thought. Then he quickly remembered that Barry was a soul bonded to a suit of armor, just like him, "…Oh, I see. You're wondering about the whole 'soul binding' thing. You sound like someone else I've met before."

Catalena, opposite from the springy Xingese prince, surprisingly did not harbor a frown on her part. Instead, she disdainfully grimaced towards Ling's direction as he cheerfully replied, "Really? I must meet this person."

"He sounds like a swell guy," Catalena had added, shutting her eyes and smirking to herself. Alphonse eyed her suspiciously. Normally she would face palm or look away. Maybe even leave the room. Had she a change of heart after meeting Elicia and spending weeks inside her room?

Maybe she had finally seen the reality.

"So, um…" Alphonse started, looking towards the bewildered prince, "…Why is Cat here? Did you want to speak to me or something?"

The only female in the room opened her mouth to speak, but the other one blurted out happily, "Oh, I saw a mouse in your room! So I got a cat! Meow~" Ling curled his hands like paws and gestured towards Catalena.

"…"

"…But aside dead mice, there's something I wanted to ask you, Alphonse," Ling stated matter-of-factly, smile deflating.

"…Can I guess what it is?"

Before Ling could speak up, Catalena waved her hand from her seat, voicing aloud, "Let me guess, it's something like 'How'd you get your body!' or something else ambitious like that. Am I right?" She gave Ling a scrutinizing look.

He looked daft, "…Actually, that's pretty much it. Wow! How'd you know?"

Glancing between the two, Alphonse thought it best to just crush Ling's dreams while they were still stable instead of inflating them to the point of spontaneous eruption, "Erm, unfortunately you'll have to ask Ed. He was the one to bind me to this body."

"Are you serious? Come on, that's no fair! Barry promised me that…"

"I'm telling the truth, Ling. But brother won't be back from Resembol for a while. You're going to have to be patient and wait."

The spoiled prince pursed his lips and frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. For a split moment, Alphonse swore he saw a dark, masked figure looming over the window. It was probably Lan Fan, but now wasn't the time to assume things.

Spreading one of her arms across the couch, Catalena mentioned to the youngest person in the room, "…So, Alphonse…since you're in a giving mood, can I ask for a favor?"

The suit of armor only stood there, twiddling his thumbs. This was the first time Catalena ever requested something. Truth to be told, he had never really gotten to know her. Aside from the fact that she may have had a soft spot for children…

"…What is it?"

"Recently, I have heard of a man called Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. He was the best friend of Elicia's father, correct?"

"…Yes. What of it?"

Catalena looked painful for a split second, glancing from the glowing red of Alphonse's eyes to the slanted ones of Ling Yao's, "…There's no doubt he would want to avenge his friend's death. Have you thought about that before?"

**.**

**.**

**.**

Roy pulled his ignition gloves off, slapping them into his pocket while at the same time pulling his seatbelt on. Looking out of the vehicle's window to notice the day dying out, he turned his attention to the driver's seat, "Hawkeye, step on it. Follow that lunatic."

The blonde woman gripped the steering wheel, putting slight pressure on the foot pedal. Hearing Havoc pull out a cigarette and begin to light it, Riza bent over from the driver's seat, glaring at him, "No smoking in the car."

Jean bit the butt of his cigarette in quiet remorse as he threw the newly lit fag out the open window. After doing so and noticing Riza's intense gaze on him, he protested, "Well what are you staring at me for? We've got a killer to catch!"

The blonde First Lieutenant turned back forward, her eyes blinking to adjust to the light that flared against her window shield. Roy also had to shield himself from the light, becoming noticeably irritated, "Get us out of this damn light, Lieutenant."

Trying to gain sight through squinted eyes, the woman obediently affirmed, "Yes sir."

That is until a large shadow suddenly appeared over them, wiping the rays of the setting sun clear from their faces. Roy had yet to open his eyes, instead rubbing them and thanking Riza, "Good job, Hawkeye. Now let's—what the. Alphonse?"

Standing in front of the small car, the armored boy poked his head through Jean's open window; a brown-haired woman accompanied him. She looked very normal, despite the odd red eyes, "Are you searching for Mr. Hughes' murderer?"

The three adults inside the car studied Alphonse carefully before Roy replied, "…Yeah. You in?"

It was surprising he would offer the boy, much less even allow him to accompany him. But even Roy understood the connection Maes developed between those two boys. That very connection was the reason why he died, but he wouldn't have died in vain after they finished this.

Jean scooted over, allowing Alphonse to huddle in and take over the entire back seat. Catalena stood beside the car, raising a very distraught eyebrow. Roy and Riza also stared at her, although Jean couldn't because he was sandwiched against the window.

It was a good thing he couldn't.

"…Alphonse. Who is this?" The Colonel asked, locking his door.

"That's Catalena. She needs to come with us; she'll be a lot of help."

"I don't know, Al. She looks pretty useless."

Hawkeye secretly glared at her superior officer. After which she unlocked his car door from her end, looking at the woman from her window, "Get in."

…

They passed Barry along the way; in fact, they were speeding along the empty streets with him. The feral-infused used-to-be Barry's body hopped along the rooftops, and they were powerless to engage him. Along the way, the five people inside the vehicle began talking about the most unimaginable things.

"Do you think we're going to see anymore of that thing back at the tower?" Riza asked the dead silence within the vehicle, mostly towards Roy Mustang, who had saved her from the blubbery beast.

"I doubt it. I burned him to a crisp. No human could survive that."

"Wait. What are you talking about? Did you guys fight someone weird?" From behind the back seat of the bulging vehicle, Alphonse asked two of the three in the front seat.

Catalena was on the left, Riza was on the right, and Roy was sandwiched smack in the middle, feeling uncomfortably small as his subordinate replied, "Someone weird? …There was this large man I encountered while covering Havoc and Barry. He brushed off numerous sniper shots to the head like it was nothing."

Hearing the words of the trio, Catalena, who was leaning her head against the window with her eyes closed, opened one of them.

"Did he have a tattoo anywhere on his body?"

The woman stared at the handle of the steering wheel, imagining the scene of the round being lifting her up by her neck as she desperately fired gunshots into his cranium. He opened his mouth wide as if to swallow her whole, revealing an odd imprint on the surface of his tongue.

"…Come to think of it, he did have a tattoo. On his tongue."

Staring through the clear glass of the window, Catalena murmured loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Then you're probably fighting against a homunculus."

Roy squirmed around, meeting the back of Catalena's head, "…Wait, a homunculus? Are you saying that…"

She heard a rasping sound from the back of his throat and craned her neck to face him.

"…I reduced fatty back there to a bubbling puddle. You're saying he's still alive?"

The brunette lowered her hand, lessening the bored expression she was portraying, "…Yes. Very much alive, in fact."

They turned a corner, and the last bits of the sunlight began to disappear. Barry still sprinted beside the car, not getting tired despite having only a single arm. Maybe this was why the invention of having an armored body was appealing to Greed and Ling.

"…So Miss Artenie, is there any story to why a stranger like you would know about a homunculus? And if so, why is this sob story imploring you to help us?"

Catalena fingered her lip, thinking it over for a while. After figuring a valid response, she smiled at the military officer, "Let's just say we'll both gain something from this. I may have an idea as to who would've wanted your friend dead."

Her words reached all of them slowly; even the smothered Jean Havoc temporarily regained consciousness. She spoke with such seriousness and certainty Roy began to wonder just who she was. And what did she want?

**.**

**.**

**.**

"It looks like my body went inside that building there," Barry proposed in a singsong voice. He spoke to five other people who were also creeping along a corner as they spotted a pair of guards in front of the brightly lit building.

"Body, body, body. I'm getting tired of hearing that word, " a feminine voice grumbled, obviously irritated. Or maybe she was just tired; after all she was stuck inside a room for a few weeks.

"That's the 3rd Laboratory. Unlike the 5th, it's active and in use. Usually it's heavily guarded, because Central Command keeps some classified stuff in there."

"Like human chimeras…" A metallic voice whispered.

"No, not that classified. The chimeras were all created in the 5th Laboratory, but that place is ash now."

"Colonel, I think we need to retreat. We have all the information we need," another female voice stated in the dead of night.

"Yeah, now we know the baddies' hideout is in the 3rd. We should come up with a plan before—" Jean's proposition was cut off by a heavy, armored being knocking him away from the wall as that said being stormed through the walkway towards the Laboratory, swinging one of his meat cleavers.

"There's no way in hell I'm letting my body get away! This is my chance and I'm not letting it go!" Soon Barry was face-to-face with the two guards, and all he had to do was shove his cleaver in their faces to get through, "Out of my way! I don't want to cut any of you!"

His insane rants struck terror and confusion into the guards and scientists he shoved past.

"Barry!" Jean, sprawled out on the ground, cried out. He hoisted himself up and looked at Roy for help, "What are we going to do now, Colonel?"

The black-haired man stepped out from the corner, pulling a pistol from its holster. He lowered the gun and motioned towards the laboratory, "This is our chance to take a look. Come on!"

Quickly the five remaining people caught on and followed the older man inside the building. The whole time they ran through the bustling white hallways, Roy shouted something about 'important business' and 'arresting a killer'.

Once they proceeded into a lower level and were face with two separate hallways, Roy proposed,

"Let's split up. Jean, come with me. Everyone else, go the other way." He calmly gave a notion to Hawkeye, which would have seemed like a normal nod to normal eyes. But to Catalena, she had been given that reassuring nod before.

It secretly meant be careful.

**.**

**.**

**.**

She followed after Alphonse and Hawkeye through the dark corridors, even though she—Zeal would have been the best fighter amongst them all. Red eyes stared at the pinned up hair of Hawkeye.

The problem was having someone like her knowing that she was a homunculus. How would they treat her afterwards? It's clear that they'd seen the horrors homunculi are. Though some feeling inside of her was reassured somehow that another homunculus besides Greed lingered somewhere within Central.

Who knows, maybe she'd find him later and interrogate him.

"Ah…" the woman gasped as soon as bright light blinded the trio's eyes. After they'd adjusted, a vast, infinitely white room was shown to them. The only flaws in the canvas were a colorful door and two bodies in front of it.

"Barry!" Alphonse hollered, and that cued for the newly arrived trio to run into the room and gape at the scene.

The true Barry stood over his mangled, stinky body. He shook his head, and voiced, "Poor thing never had a chance. I guess a body can't survive without the right soul inside of it."

"…"

Catalena quickly looked at Alphonse, who wasn't taking the words Barry voiced well. She had never met this Barry person before, but it would appear that he was just like Alphonse. And the scientists who did this to him put the soul of an animal inside his real body. That of which could not survive because the body and soul could not synchronize.

That resulted in a stinky mound of flesh and bone. And flies.

Riza still had her gun lowered, and stayed quiet and alert while everyone else might have done silent prayers. They probably didn't, but she still kept an eye on the door. Riza, however, did pray that Roy was fine. He may have been a Colonel and an experienced alchemist, but sometimes he wasn't that bright and unbelievably reckless.

The hawk's eyes seemed to penetrate the darkness that filled the corridors they had just left, but they failed to discern the human figure that melted with the shady color.

"…Colonel? Is that you?" Riza raised her pistol and aimed it at the midst of the black.

Alphonse, Barry, and Catalena also noticed Riza's quick movement, and focused their vision the respectable way. Barry was the only one who knew right from the start what was stepping foot in the room of white.

A silhouette wrapped in black…a rustic red tattoo of a serpent devouring its own tail…

Catalena's red eyes widened, and the homunculus blood inside of her boiled.

She'd know the feeling when she'd come face to face with another homunculus.

**.**

**.**

**.**

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><p><strong>[1] – <strong>Yes, that means Cain was promoted from Sergeant Major.

**A/N: **I have to say, there was quite a lot of foreboding in this chapter. Really…there was.

I always wondered these things about my OCs…who do I think is the prettiest? Who's the strongest? Who can stay sober longest? Etcetera, etcetera. Well today, friends, I shall answer these questions for both you and I.

**Question 1. What would you describe your OCs as? (Cute, sexy, tomboyish)**

I honestly think Sofia Landt is the most gorgeous of all my OCs. Not that I think any of my OCs are insanely beautiful, but she'd fit that mark. (Sofia Landt is my -man OC)

Zhen Ji is for sure the cutest, and also has the most unique design.

Catalena/Zeal is kinda just there. She's pretty and I guess can act 'sexy' in her own way. Elicia did think she was a guy…

**Question 2. Who can stomach the most alcohol?**

Zhen Ji is the most tolerant, Catalena has an average tolerance level, and Sofia Landt can't stomach any of it. Zeal is a scene kid. She acts like she's done everything, yet she hasn't ever had a drop of alcohol. Her tolerance level is unknown.

**Question 3. Who's the strongest?**

Catalena/Zeal is obviously the strongest. But when Zeal isn't a part of Cat's body, Zhen is the strongest. Sofia's an exorcist ( -man term) but she isn't as acrobatic or flexible as Zhen, so. Catalena is actually the most human and normal out of them all. She doesn't have any fighting ability, except her brain and quick wits. Oh and amateur alchemy.

**Question 4. Who's the smartest?**

It goes in this order: Catalena, Sofia, Zhen. Zhen's not very educated. She was raised as a puppet/bodyguard.

**Question 5. What do they think of love?**

Sofia is too innocent and religious so she would be totally inexperienced in the matter. Zhen would be a little flustered at first and surprised but would soften up to that person in time. Catalena just has trouble expressing her feelings, so it takes a very persistent person to coax her out of her shell.

**A/N:** Aaaand that's it. For now. If you have any questions let me know. Also, I don't think I'm going to do that Pride x OC thing. In truth, Sofia Landt was supposed to be the heroine for that story, and I did have some cute things I wanted to write…but I don't really have the drive.

To sum things up, thank you for staying with me this far. It means a lot. Really. I haven't given up on you guys or this story.

Oh and...NOW you can review. :)


	12. Don't Review

Hi. Sorry to dissapoint, but this is not an update. It's a notice.

A VERY TERRIBLE AND. DEPRESSING NOTICE.

It was probably unevitable, especially at the speed in which I update...like a snail. IMO. But yeah. I'm on hiatus. Really.

I'll type it again so you guys can let it soak.

H I A T U S.

It hurts. I can't type out the chapter. I try but I get like a few sentences in every hour. I spent the entire day today staring at a laptop (and watching a few horror movies), and no matter how much I think the few paragraphs that form are pieces of shit. It's not my abilities as a writer...everyone needs inspiration. It's like fighting a war you know you can't win or something like that. Zero motivation. I can't do it. The only thing I can do is put it aside and wait for inspiration. :[

So...Rapacious = hiatus. I probably won't get back to it for weeks...months. Whatever. Despite the amount of reviewers I get at that point, I don't care. I won't waste my time writing pieces of shit chapters and you won't waste your time reading them, like the previous chapter (4 reviews! Damn! Terrible). That's proof enough that it sucked, and you readers are severly disappointed. I can't be having that.

Unless you'd like to hear my rants, I suggest you click something else now. Yes. There are people like that in this world, and I am just being courteous. Oh, and by the way, I may still update Bring Me to Life. I feel it's still going well, unlike this story (The chapters are also much shorter, which is easier on my part).

* * *

><p>So, either scroll down or whatever. I'm trying to explain why I'm so empty of FMA, though some of you probably already know.<p>

D. Gray-man. Watch it. Seriously. It's one of those Action/Tragedy/Adventure types of anime, like FMA. In fact, a lot of it reminds me of FMA...for some reason. And not just because Yu Kanda is Roy Mustang and Allen Walker (Has the best expressions ever!) is Ling Yao. No...not at all.

If you like FMA, there's a good chance you may like D. Gray-Man as well. On a whim in the dark of my living room, I decided to come upon a new anime. I admit, D. Gray-Man looked pretty appetizing. And when I clicked the watch button and heard the OP...I fell in love. Instantly.

AND IT WASN'T JUST BECAUSE A SEXY REDHEAD AND UMBER MAN STARED BACK AT ME. NOT AT ALL. :C

I reccommend it. Totally. If you don't like it, it may be because it requires some brainpower, and it's pretty dark for the first few episodes. I didn't quite understand some things, but I did eventually because I'm patient. I warn you the anime requires patience to get through Season 2, which has some...a lot of filler episodes (But they're interesting!). Season 1 and 3 are wickedly awesome...yes. Wickedly. I used that word. It's my first time, too~

Look, I'll take up HOURS of your time trying to describe everything. That's why I warned you. Turn back and watch this anime. NOW. THAT'S IT. This anime deserves more love. I can't count how many times I've cried. It's so touching and everything...but then they put comic relief in just the right moments. JUST. JUST WATCH IT. I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING. LALALALALALALA!

JUST DON'T TAKE LAVI AND TYKI (and another person who looks like Tyki) AWAY FROM ME. If you do watch it, can you guess who these people are? PLEASE. WATCH IT. If you don't understand anything, feel free to message me! I plan on creating a story for this, I just don't know when.

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><p>This is just in case you do decide to watch this amazing anime. (And watch it in English dubs. It's funnier. The english dubs end at episode 51, though. But the good side to this is SEASON THREEE) I've decided to post my opinions on some of the main characters, so that when you see their faces, you will remember me.<p>

Allen Walker is cute. At first I kept imagining Ling Yao instead of him due to...you know. But then I got used to it and realllly started to like him. He's hilarious and has the best facial expressions...

Lenalee Lee I was skeptical towards. I was trying to decide if she'd be another annoying female character...and those pigtails...I tried to like her. Surprisingly, in the end, I did. Lenalee's a badass. And she looks WAAAAAY better with short hair IMO. There was a point in the anime I WANTED HER TO WIN. SO. BAD. AT THAT POINT, LENALEE TOPPED MY LIST FOR AWESOME FEMALE PROTAGONISTS. Unfortunately, I like Miranda better than her.

Yu Kanda at first appealed to me as another Sasuke or Itachi. The emotionally detached dude who looks like a girl with the samurai sword and everything? Well, yeah. But...here's the thing. Kanda is secretly a dumbass. Yeah. He won't admit it, but he's a dumbfuck. And that's why we love him.

LAVI owns this page. Lavi is awesome. Unfortunately, although he is a protagonist, his dark side isn't revealed until later on...beforehand, he acts as a funny, cute (sexy), supporter. Luckily for me, he gets a lot of screentime, as expected. So get used to him, but don't take him away from me.

Miranda Lotto's the prettiest IMO; if you watched her episode, you'll see. Krory's a cutie. And last of all, I ship Allen x Road all the way.

BUT I DO NOT SHIP LAVI X LENALEE. NEVER. I don't care how much he cares about her; it doesn't feel right. Lavi just seems too OOC when with Lenalee, even if he has a compassionate side. I can't see them romantically involved. Allen and Lenalee, sure, but Lavi x Lenalee no.

And I always say no to yaoi. But I don't hate it.

MORAL OF THIS NOTICE.

NOW YOU KNOW WHAT GOES ON IN MY HEAD. Wouldn't you rather this instead of waiting in front of a screen anxiously? Of course you don't know what the hell is going on but at least it makes me feel better to rant about this stuff. I really don't have anyone else to talk about this stuff with, anyhow.

So...in other words, I might update Bring Me to Life. Thank you and watch this anime. Oh and. Don't review. /will delete later


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